Today, my dinner experiment was a success. In fact, I am so excited about it, I am writing about it instead of playing Final Fantasy XIV. If you have any idea what the extent of my gaming addic…I mean passion is, then you know this is serious.
I’ve mentioned before that my husband and I are on a low carb lifestyle. My husband is hard core cutting out carbs left and right. I have a more difficult time because, bottom line, I am just not as strong willed, and I really love carby foods. One food I really miss is a creamy, cheesy pasta dish, with extra cream, and extra cheese. Did I mention that cream and cheese is crucial? Luckily, I discovered the amazing spaghetti squash a few years ago, thanks to the CSA (community supported agriculture) we were a part of. It is absolutely fascinating to me that a squash can be pulled apart into noodle like strands. Ok, so it’s not the same as eating a bowl of fettuccine. But it is a healthy and delicious alternative, and it does not leave you super full and bloated like pasta.
Today happens to be Friday, and it is the Lenten season right now. I don’t know about other denominations, but for Catholics, we abstain from eating meat on Fridays during Lent. I have little experience cooking seafood. My aunt, who lived near me, was an amazing cook. I have very fond memories of going to her house to eat ginger and scallion stir fried crabs and spicy whole shrimp. Unfortunately, she passed away a few years ago, and I always regret not asking her to teach me when she was healthy. So for seafood newb me, it is always a bit of a struggle trying to figure out what to cook on Fridays during Lent.
Giant happened to have a serious sale on frozen shrimp a couple of weeks ago. What was normally a $20 for 2 lb bag of shrimp, was $5 with a coupon stacked with the sale price. Too bad the limit was 1 bag per person.
So I decided to break out my super cheap bag of frozen shrimp and make shrimp alfredo with my spaghetti squash that’s been sitting in my kitchen for weeks. I decided to defrost the entire 2 lb bag because I don’t mess around. It really irks me whenever I go to restaurants, and an $18 shrimp dish only comes with 5 shrimp. Should have gotten the steak. While I am no pro at cooking shrimp, I do know that shrimp shells make an excellent stock. After I defrosted the shrimp and peeled them, I threw the shells back into the freezer for another day. Obviously, if you are short on time, get the already peeled shrimp.
While I was prepping the shrimp, my spaghetti squash was roasting away in the oven. I split it in half, and as you can see it was a sloppy job. Spaghetti squash are really hard, so it can be a little scary cutting them up. Be careful please. I drizzled olive oil and sprinkled salt, pepper, and garlic powder on the halves. Then I turned the squash over, skin side up. Roast them in a 400°F oven for 40-50 minutes, or until the flesh is easily pierced by a fork.
Here is my cooked squash after I dug out the flesh.
My shrimp were wet, so I dried them in several layers. I salt and peppered them.
I heated up olive oil, then I cooked the shrimp on medium heat. Shrimp cook super fast, it only takes a couple of minutes on each side. Once they turn pink, take them out. Overcooked, rubbery shrimp are no good.
Bowl o’ shrimp
Remember how I wrote about cleaning crusty shit off pots? Well this time, the crusty shit is a good thing. The brown bits left from the shrimp help give the alfredo sauce a bigger flavor punch. Plus, it would be a stupid pain in the ass to clean it off. So, throw half a stick of butter right into the pot.
Once the butter melts, throw in about 1/3 of a head of garlic, minced. It takes seconds, so don’t let the garlic burn.
Once the garlic is cooked, pour in 2 cups of heavy cream. Look, it made an artsy swirl. Let the cream come to a gentle simmer. It takes a few minutes, maybe 3 minutes or so. You will also feel the crusty burnt bits peeling off.
Once you see tiny bubbles, add the parmesan cheese and mozzarella cheese. Stir them in and let the sauce gently cook for another few minutes. Taste it, and add salt and pepper if necessary.
Easy shrimp and spaghetti squash alfredo, just like that. And I ate 15 extra large shrimp. YEAH. Warning: the spaghetti squash does let out a good amount of liquid. If you don’t want a watery sauce, squeeze the excess liquid out before mixing the squash into the sauce.
Shrimp Spaghetti Squash Alfredo
Ingredients
– 1 spaghetti squash
– 2 lbs shrimp
– half a stick of butter (4 tbs)
– 1/3 head of garlic minced
– 2 cups heavy cream
– 1 cup shredded parmesan cheese (NOT the grated crap you pour out of a canister please)
– 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
– olive oil
– salt
– pepper
– garlic powder
Directions
– Cut the squash in half and scoop out the seeds. Drizzle olive oil and sprinkle with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Turn the squash face down on a baking sheet. Roast in a 400°F oven for 40-50 minutes, or until the flesh is easily pierced. After the squash is cooked, scoop and fluff out the flesh.
– Rinse and dry off the shrimp. Season with salt and pepper. Cook in a single layer in olive oil over medium heat. Cook each side for 1-2 minutes, or until the shrimp turns pink. Remove from the pot.
– In the same pot, melt the butter. Add the garlic once the butter is melted.
– Once the garlic is cooked, add the heavy cream. Let it come to a simmer for a couple of minutes. Gently scrape off the burnt bits from the shrimp.
– Add the parmesan and mozzarella cheeses and stir them into the sauce. Cook gently for another couple of minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste.
– Mix the squash and shrimp into the sauce, and get ready to eat.
