Spaghetti with Shrimp, Lemon, and Chives

Patrick may have mentioned in a previous post that on our last trip to Costco we purchased a large bag of frozen tilapia filets and shrimp! It's been fun experimenting with these two items in some new seafood dishes. This particular recipe is from our Food Made Fast Seafood cookbook. I chose it because it was simple and featured chives. Our chive bucket is getting a little out of control and needs some harvesting. This recipe also reminded us of one of Patrick's favorite dishes: Lemon Spaghetti. This new one might replace that one because this has a few less steps and is equally delicious. We served this with a light salad and sun-dried tomato vinaigrette (recipe follows).

Linguine with Shrimp from Food Made Fast: Seafood
2 lemons
1 cup heavy cream
1 lb small shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 tbsp fresh chives
salt and white pepper
1 lb linguine or fettucine (we used whole-wheat spaghetti)
1 tbsp olive oil

Boil the water and warm the sauce: Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Grate 1 tablespoon zest from the lemons and squeeze 3 tablespoons juice. In a small saucepan over low heat, combine the cream and lemon zest and heat until hot. Remove from the heat if the mixture begins to boil. In a small bowl, combine the shrimp, lemon juice, and chives; set aside.

Cook the pasta and finish the sauce: Add 2 tablespoons salt and the pasta to the boiling water. Cook, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking, until al dente, according to the package directions. When the pasta is within about 3 mintues of being al dente, warm the oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Add the shrimp to the pan and cook, stirring, until they are opaque throughout, about 2 minutes. Add the warm cream to the pan and season the sauce to taste with salt and pepper. Drain the pasta, add to the pan, toss to coat with the sauce, and serve.

For the salad: we use chopped buttercrunch lettuce, sliced avocado, and almonds
For the vinaigrette: in a small food processor we combined sun-dried tomatoes (~1/4 cup), balsamic vinegar (2-3 tbsp), olive oil (~1/4 cup), small dash of sugar, basil, salt and pepper; pulse until smooth. Continue to add ingredients until the ratio of the vinaigrette is to your liking.