Shrimp Primavera

Ingredients

• [Vegetables]
• 8 white mushrooms , sliced thinly
• 1/2 large onion or 1 small onion, finely diced
• 1 bunch broccolini or a small head of broccoli, sliced into small florets
• 1 bunch green asparagus, bias sliced (~8 to 10)
• 1/2 large zucchini, cut into 1/4" rounds (optional)
• 1 1/2 cup snow peas, bias sliced (optional)
• 1/2 red or yellow bell pepper, thinly sliced (optional)
• 10 cherry tomatoes, cut in half
• 2 garlic cloves, finely minced
• [Shrimp]
• 8-12 large shrimp, deveined, and cut in half, lengthwise, into thin strips (for faster cooking)
• [Sauce]
• 10 oz linguine (fettucine, or other long and flat pasta... or just whatever you have on hand)
• 5 tbsp unsalted butter
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 cup Parmigiano reggiano, finely grated
• 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1/3 cup pasta cooking water, scoop out just before draining
• 1 tsp cooking/kosher salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, finely sliced
• 2 tbsp pinenuts, toasted

Instructions

1. Vegetables: slice vegetables into small pieces. The original recipe calls for diagonal, bias slices to make it look fancy

2. Cream Sauce: Melt butter in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Add cream and Parmigiano reggiano. Stir, and once the cream starts simmering gently, stir until the cheese melts then take it off the stove and set aside.

3. Bring a large pot of water to the boil over high heat. Add 1 tablespoon of salt and add the pasta. Cook for the time per the packet minus 1 minute. Reserve pasta water: Just before draining the pasta, scoop out a mug of pasta cooking water and set aside. Drain the pasta.

4. Meanwhile, cook vegetables. Cook the mushrooms first since they take longer, then remove them from the pan.

5. Heat remaining oil in the same skillet. Cook broccolini, snow peas and asparagus for 2 minutes.

6. Add shrimp, bell pepper, zucchini, tomato, garlic, salt and pepper. Cook for a further 3 minutes or until the shrimp is cooked through. Add mushroom back in, toss, then remove from heat.

7. Toss! Return pasta into the now-empty pot. Add vegetables, cream sauce and 1/3 cup pasta water. Toss over medium heat using 2 wooden spoons until the sauce thickens and clings to the pasta strands rather than pooling in the base of the pot, about 1 to 2 minutes. If at any stage the pasta gets too thick, add a splash more pasta water and toss on stove.

8. Finishing: Basil & pine nuts – Quickly toss through basil. Divide between 4 bowls. Sprinkle with pine nuts. Devour immediately!