Monday, July 4, 2011

Feta & Herb Shrimp Pasta





Do you know how much work it is to re-do cabinetry? Let me tell you the funny chain of events that led to us never quitting our day jobs and becoming cabinet re-finishers.







1. Our obvious blind spots which led to Niagara Falls type paint drops.

2. Drilling holes into the wrong side of the doors, right after you had just spent 4 painstaking days completing several layers.

3. Finishing up the paint on the last 8 doors and having 3 white hairy dogs come running through your garage as you scream in horror…the color of the cabinets is espresso…with a sprinkle of fur at this point.







Number 3 is actually true, you really can’t make stuff like that up. The kind of stuff I do make up always has to do with my Indy and how well behaved she is. Sometimes you just can't let the teachers know that well...you know.






“Really, Indigo? She tried to drop kick her one of her teachers today?” “Well that is so strange, she never act’s that way at home.”

Could you tell I was lying there? Well good, because I totally wasn’t….

Also dear husband I hardly spent any money at Target this weekend I swear…

Totally telling the truth.







INGREDIENTS
Delightfully Borrowed, slight altered from Annie’s Eats
{Printable Recipe}

1 lb. pasta shapes
1 lb. raw shrimp (31-40 ct.), peeled and deveined, cut in half (if desired)
7 oz. feta cheese, crumbled and divided
Zest of 1 lemon, divided
½ cup Panko breadcrumbs
2 tbsp. fresh parsley, chopped, divided
5 tbsp. butter, divided
4 tbsp. all-purpose flour
3 cups milk
2 tbsp. fresh dill, chopped
8 oz. Monterey Jack Cheese, shredded (about 2 cups)
½ tsp. kosher salt
½ tsp. ground black pepper







DIRECTIONS

 
Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Cook the pasta until al dente according to the package directions. Drain well; set aside. Add the raw shrimp to the warm pasta and toss together. The heat from the pasta will partially cook the shrimp.







Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 400˚ F. In a small bowl, combine a handful of the feta, a pinch of the lemon zest, the panko, 2 teaspoons of the parsley and 1 tablespoon of the butter, melted. Toss with a fork to combine; set aside.







In a medium saucepan, melt the remaining 4 tablespoons of butter over medium-high heat. Once the butter is melted, whisk in the flour to form a paste. Cook 1-2 minutes, whisking constantly, until light golden brown.







Whisk in the milk. Continue to heat the mixture, stirring frequently, until it bubbles and thickens, about 5 minutes. As soon as the sauce has thickened, remove from the heat and stir in the remaining feta, Monterey Jack, remaining parsley, remaining lemon zest, dill, salt and pepper. Pour the mixture over the pasta and shrimp and mix well.







Transfer the mixture to a lightly greased large baking dish. Sprinkle the breadcrumb-feta mixture. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until lightly browned and bubbling. Remove from the oven and let cool for 5 minutes.

This pasta is so super good and tasty, a refreshing summer pasta for sure.  NO LIE.



31 comments:

Heather Baird said...

YUM! Wishing I had this pasta now - and your cute ceramic dish!

Oh, how I can relate to your cabinetry refinishing woes. I did mine in the same espresso color. What a pain! It's been 3 years now and there are chips here and there. I'm thinking we'll have to bite the bullet and buy new ones before another DIY re-do (nightmare).

Unknown said...

Yum - this looks delicious!

Sorry about the dog hair; I can only imagine. It is basically an accepted condiment at my house at this point!!

Unknown said...

MMMM, delicious flavor combos. The pasta, not the paint + dog hair.

Zoe said...

Love your presentation of making this dish. Very nice.

Sara Louise said...

I painted my cabinets a couple of months ago, and I swear, keeping my dog away from them as I painted, was the most difficult part.

Rosa's Yummy Yums said...

Aaaahhh, animal hairs... Annoying!

That pasta dish looks so soothing, tasty and summery!

Cheers,

Rosa

Unknown said...

Sorry about the 'sprinkle of fur'...
Yummy pasta... I really like your ceramic dish :) Beautiful presentation.

tasha faye said...

everytime i visit our blog, my tummy rumbles and i have a lust for everything you cook! <3 xxx

Carolyn said...

Oh my, you've made me never want to redo my cabinetry. The dog fur...ugh! But this pasta would cheer anyone up, at least a little bit.

Lori said...

Looks amazing! Luscious photos as usual.

Unknown said...

I've been cooking with shrimp and feta a lot these days... Loving this pasta, will definitely be trying it!

Anonymous said...

Delicious - I'm making this tonight - looks wonderful!
Mary

Fun and Fearless in Beantown said...

I love the presentation in a mug. It looks beautiful!

Ashley's Cooking Adventures said...

I am in love with this dish, shrimp, pasta, herbs, cheese?? Yes please!

Just Cake Girl said...

OOO that looks so good :)

Kristen said...

I just might need to make this! I love to incorporate shrimp in pasta. YUM!

Clements Family said...

Oh I love feta...and shrimp. Great recipe!

Betty said...

This pasta dish looks wonderful! Thanks for stopping by at mgcc:)

Umm Mymoonah said...

Wow! This looks irresistible, please pass me some.

Joyti said...

Pets (or owners, as I'm sure they call themselves in their heads) have such...lovely timing.
And the bit about Indigo kicking her teacher made me laugh. I wonder how she thought to do that?
Hope you had a nice Fourth of July. And the pasta dish looks delicious!

Rick said...

That looks delicious but I really want the fork.

Val said...

As the French would say this is MAGNIFIQUE!!!

Liz That Skinny Chick Can Bake said...

With all that wonderful cheese, this must be fabulous!Giggled my way through your post as usual...my sweet daughter never kicked her teacher, just her baby sitter :/

mr. pineapple man said...

yum!! and great pics as always!

Taste and Tell said...

Dog hair in the paint - that is something I'd do!! This dish looks fabulous!!

Unknown said...

Oh Lord, I have been there in the cabinet refacing crazyness. Yes, there are huge drip spots to prove it. We bought our home with dingy beigy cabinets and I HAD to have them white, and HAD to do it myself.
This pasta looks delicious. I wish my family liked shrimp as much as I do. Next time I'll come over to your house for shrimp pasta, mmmmkay? I'll bring wine :)

Kathleen said...

This has YUM written all over it!

Jayanthy Kumaran said...

looks irresistably hearty dear..

Tasty Appetite

Angie's Recipes said...

This looks like loaded with delicious flavours!

Mary Bergfeld said...

This is such a lovely dish. It looks beautiful and sounds delicious. I hope to try it soon. I hope you have a great day. Blessings...MAry

Chris said...

Crap....we are looking at doing our cabinets this fall. I hope we are a little more fortunate when we do ours, ha ha.