Pink Sauce with Shrimp and Broccoli

With the weather warming and no AC, I look at my oven with distaste. During the warmer months, I usually look for recipes that can be made quickly and will not heat the whole house while cooking. This is one of them.

I love pink sauce. It is my favorite! What I don't like is the heavy cream that pink sauces call for. Most recipes call for 1-1.5 cups of heavy cream and pouring that much heavy cream into my food gives me the heebie-jeebies. I was interested in substituting yogurt for the heavy cream. Cassie at backtoherroots.com had a recipe that sounded delicious. I tweaked it a bit for my own taste and it was super tasty.

This recipe makes A LOT of food. It was like the never-ending pasta bowl at the Olive Garden. Using plain Greek yogurt instead of heavy cream really cuts down on the fat. I did use a bag of peeled and deveined shrimp so this recipe could not be made easier.  I had some broccoli in the house and used that instead of spinach. Since I love me some spinach and pasta I will have to add it next time.

Pink Sauce with Shrimp and Broccoli
Adapted from backtoherroots.com
Ingredients:

one 1 lb box of angel hair (my favorite) or spaghetti or your favorite pasta
1 tbsp of olive oil
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1/4 tsp of red pepper flakes
1 can of sliced mushrooms or 8oz container of button mushrooms, sliced
16 oz bag of raw medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 can of diced tomatoes
1 1/2 cup your favorite marinara sauce (or more if you like more saucy)
1/2 cup of 0% plain Greek yogurt
the florets of one medium head of broccoli, boiled for 5 minutes and drained.
salt and pepper to taste
grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

Cook pasta according to the directions.
Heat oil in a large pan. Saute garlic and red pepper flakes until garlic softens, about 2 minutes. Add mushrooms and saute for 2 minutes or 5 minutes if using fresh. Add tomatoes and shrimp and cook until shrimp is opaque. Turn heat to low. Add marinara sauce and broccoli and allow to heat through. Add yogurt and mix well. Season with salt and pepper. Pour over pasta. Top with grated Parmesan cheese.

Broccoli Pesto Pasta

The first blog I ever followed was Heidi Swanson's 101cookbooks.com before I even knew what a blog was. She is extremely talented and her dreamy photography makes me swoon. Her cookbooks have yet to reside on my bookshelf but they are on my wishlist. She emphasizes natural and wholesome foods and her recipes look delicious. Despite following her for so long, I have never made a recipe. Not Heidi's fault, I can be a bit of a slacker in the trying new recipes department. I finally got around to making this broccoli pesto pasta and it was delicious and easy. She also used black olives and spinach which I am sure would make this even more delicious. Make sure to head her way and be prepared to swoon :)

Broccoli Pesto Pasta
Adapted from  www.101cookbooks.com

Ingredients:
1 medium head of broccoli cut into little florets
1/2 toasted pine nuts
2 cloves roasted garlic
1/3 freshly grated parmesan cheese
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
juice of half a lemon
1/2 lb angel hair pasta
salt to taste
more parmesan for serving

Directions:
Bring a large pot of water to a boil, salt and add broccoli. Cook for just twelve seconds (thanks Heidi :) ). Drain immediately and run cold water over the broccoli to stop cooking. Puree the broccoli, pine nuts, Parmesan, garlic, and lemon juice in a food processor. Salt to taste. Drizzle in olive oil while still blending. Adjust with more salt or lemon juice if needed. Cook pasta until tender. Drain and stir in pesto. Taste and add more to your liking. Add more Parmesan cheese on top and serve.