Shrimp Tonight

Do you ever wonder where the time goes? I never seem to have enough hours in the day to do everything I want to.

Yesterday, I was off work. I thought the day was going to be rainy and nasty out, but instead the sun came out and it was the perfect day for me to get some more yard work done.

I have a very large vegetable garden, plus a fair-sized herb garden. I start a lot of my herbs early in a starter tray for transplants. Then I buy my tomato and pepper plants from the Cole County Masters Gardeners Plant Sale. Why don’t I grow my own tomato and pepper plants….simple: I am a Master Gardner and I spend about 35 hours between Feb-April in our greenhouse in Jeff City starting seeds, transplanting and caring for plants in our greenhouse, so I really do grow tomato and pepper plants.

Today, I separated out my purple basil, lemon basil and then changed out the dirt in all my containers. Plus, I had my husband pick-up mulch on his way home to mulch all the landscape around the house, which we did when he got home.

I also had to lay plastic all over my herb garden and mulch it as well. (Yes, I’m getting lazy…the plastic will now make it so I don’t have to worry about weeding it.)

Somewhere in the middle of all of this I whipped up an old stand-by recipe for dinner tonight:

Shrimp Scampi & Lemon Spaghetti
by Lane
Salt
1 pound spaghetti
4 T. butter
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped or just use garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
2 lemons, juiced and zested or 4 T. lemon juice
3/4 cup heavy cream
1 cup grated Parmigianino Reggiano
Parsley and basil flakes, ½ tsp of each

Bring your pasta to a boil and be sure to salt it. Cook according to directions.

In another pot melt butter, garlic and red pepper flakes. After the pasta has boil for about 8 minutes add a cup of the water from the pasta water to the butter mixture. Add cream and lemon juice and season with all seasonings (to suit your own taste). Remove from heat and add cheese and toss mixture with the drained pasta. Let the pasta and sauce sit, tossing occasionally.

While sauce is setting….cook your shrimp.

Shrimp Scampi
1 pound raw shrimp, shells and tails removed
1 T. parsley
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. garlic powder
3 T. butter
1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
1 yellow bell pepper, thinly sliced

Heat large skillet and belt the butter. Add shrimp, peppers and season with seasonings. Cook and toss shrimp around to coat with butter. Cook until shrimp are pink. DO NOT OVERCOOK SHRIMP.

Remove and drain excess butter from shrimp.Give pasta one more last toss and plate some and top it with some shrimp.Serve with crusty French bread and salad. Makes great leftovers! and salad. Makes great leftovers!