When I started blogging four years ago, I have never thought the beautiful things it would bring in my life. Apart from meeting so many wonderful people from around the globe, it elevated my cooking and photography skills to another level!
In my culinary travel around the world, I always like to just change a little bit things up. This is what food is all about, experimenting, testing, trying, failing, succeeding, and making very tasty meals or sometimes total failure ones! Either way, we learn valuable lessons regarding flavors, techniques, chemistry of food! Failure is as necessary as success! Actually, it is more important than success, because we never forget a failure and we always try hard not to do it again, isn’t it?
Anyway, this recipe was definitely a success and it falls under the fusion meal category. I wanted to see what would happen if I made a dish with Italian flavor and infused it with some Asian flavored seafood.
Would these two different kitchens be able to pair with each other or not?
Well, the experiment was a big success! The salty and savory pasta matched perfectly with the sweet, Asian flavors of the shrimps. I will definitely be making this again because apart from being a very tasty dish it is also very quick. Taking out the time I marinated the shrimps, it took me half an hour to make it, beginning to end. And I am not a professional cook; neither do I have help in my kitchen. I do everything myself; I and my two hands. So, without further ado, let’s go and make it.
Penne Alfredo with Asian Flavored Shrimps (the recipe is for 2 persons)
Ingredients
For the shrimps
1 tbsp less sodium soy sauce
1 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tbsp honey
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 tbsp Marsala wine (you can use any sweet wine you have)
¼ tsp garlic powder
¼ tsp onion powder
¼ tsp green and red pepper (you can increase the heat by adding more pepper)
½ tsp ground ginger
½ tsp shezhuan mix
¼ salt (if you use regular soy sauce omit the salt)
About 20 medium sized shrimps
For the Penne Alfredo
300 gr. Penne
200 ml heavy cream
½ cup regato
½ cup parmigiano reggiano
1 cup pasta water
¼ tsp nutmeg
100 gr. Margarine (you can use butter, I always use margarine to save some calories)
Instructions
In a non-reactive bowl place all the ingredients of the marinade and mix well to be incorporated.
Add the shrimps and let them marinate for at least half an hour maximum one hour.
In a pan pour the marinade and place it in medium high heat.
Let it boil for a minute or two and then add the shrimps.
Cook for about two minutes, they do not need more, and remove from stove. By then the sauce would have thicken, looking like a caramel covering the shrimps.
While you make the shrimps, you can also boil the pasta according to your liking and reserve one cup of their water.
Just a small trick to reduce the time of the preparation of pasta. If you have a boiler for hot water, just fill it with water and it will be boiled in no time. Then pour the boiled water in the pot in high heat and the water will be ready for the pasta very quickly. This is what I do to save time when things are getting quite hectic around here!
Five minutes before the pasta is done, prepare the sauce Alfredo.
In a pan put the margarine or butter in medium high heat.
Add the heavy cream and the nutmeg and let it boil for a minute.
Throw the pasta and half the quantity of the cheese and toss. If the sauce thickens add a little bit from the pasta water.
Throw the rest of the cheese and again if you find it thick just add some pasta water and toss again.
You can add salt as well, if you like it salty. I didn’t, because I thought it was salty enough for my taste.
In a plate put the pasta and on top of it the shrimps. Simple and full of flavors!
Now the giveaway!
In my previous post I got many comments regarding Mastic and how difficult it is to find it where you live.
So, because I really want you to try it and see how aromatic it is, I am willing to mail one 5 gr. package of Mastic to each one of the people who commented in my previous post. So, whoever of you guys wants me to send you some mastic to try it, please send me your address via e-mail.
I am sending this to Miz Helen’s Full Plate Thursday!
- 1 tbsp less sodium soy sauce
- 1 tbsp rice vinegar
- 1 tbsp honey
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- 1 tbsp Marsala wine (you can use any sweet wine you have)
- ¼ tsp garlic powder
- ¼ tsp onion powder
- ¼ tsp green and red pepper (you can increase the heat by adding more pepper)
- ½ tsp ground ginger
- ½ tsp shezhuan mix
- ¼ salt (if you use regular soy sauce omit the salt)
- About 20 medium sized shrimps
- 300 gr. Penne
- 200 ml heavy cream
- ½ cup regato
- ½ cup parmigiano reggiano
- 1 cup pasta water
- ¼ tsp nutmeg
- 100 gr. Margarine (you can use butter, I always use margarine to save some calories)
- In a non-reactive bowl place all the ingredients of the marinade and mix well to be incorporated.
- Add the shrimps and let them marinate for at least half an hour maximum one hour.
- In a pan pour the marinade and place it in medium high heat.
- Let it boil for a minute or two and then add the shrimps.
- Cook for about two minutes, they do not need more, and remove from stove.
- By then the sauce would have thicken, looking like a caramel covering the shrimps.
- While you make the shrimps, you can also boil the pasta according to your liking and reserve one cup of their water.
- Just a small trick to reduce the time of the preparation of pasta.
- If you have a boiler for hot water, just fill it with water and it will be boiled in no time.
- Then pour the boiled water in the pot in high heat and the water will be ready for the pasta very quickly.
- This is what I do to save time when things are getting quite hectic around here!
- Five minutes before the pasta is done, prepare the sauce Alfredo.
- In a pan put the margarine or butter in medium high heat.
- Add the heavy cream and the nutmeg and let it boil for a minute.
- Throw the pasta and half the quantity of the cheese and toss.
- If the sauce thickens add a little bit from the pasta water.
- Throw the rest of the cheese and again if you find it thick just add some pasta water and toss again.
- You can add salt as well, if you like it salty. I didn’t, because I thought it was salty enough for my taste.
- In a plate put the pasta and on top of it the shrimps.
- Simple and full of flavors!
- 1 κ.σ. σάλτσα σόγιας με λιγότερο αλάτι
- 1 κ.σ. ξίδι ρυζιού
- 1 κ.σ. μέλι
- 1 κ.σ. σησαμέλαιο
- 1 κουταλιά της σούπας κρασί Marsala (μπορείτε να χρησιμοποιήσετε οποιοδήποτε γλυκό κρασί)
- ¼ κ.γ. σκόνη σκόρδου
- ¼ κ.γ. σκόνη κρεμμύδι
- ¼ κ.γ. πράσινο και κόκκινο
- ½ κ.γ. τζίντζερ
- ½ κ.γ. μίγμα shezhuan
- ¼ αλάτι (εάν χρησιμοποιείσετε κανονική σάλτσα σόγιας παραλείψτε το αλάτι)
- Περίπου 20 μεσαίου μεγέθους γαρίδες
- 300 γρ. πέννες
- 200 ml κρέμα γάλακτος
- ½ φλ. ρεγκάτο
- ½ φλ. parmigiano reggiano
- 1 φλ. νερό ζυμαρικών
- ¼ κ.γ. μοσχοκάρυδο
- 100 γρ. μαργαρίνη (μπορείτε να χρησιμοποιήσετε βούτυρο)
- Σε ένα γυάλινο μπολ βάλτε όλα τα υλικά της μαρινάδας και ανακατέψτε καλά να ενσωματωθούν.
- Προσθέστε τις γαρίδες και αφήστε να μαριναριστεί από μισή έως μία ώρα.
- Σε ένα τηγάνι ρίξτε τη μαρινάδα και βάλτε το στη φωτιά σε μέτρια/ψηλή θερμοκρασία.
- Αφήστε το να βράσει για ένα λεπτό ή δύο, και στη συνέχεια προσθέστε τις γαρίδες.
- Μαγειρέψτε για περίπου δύο λεπτά, δεν χρειάζονται περισσότερα, και αποσύρετέ το από τη φωτιά.
- Λογικά η σάλτσα θα έχει καραμελώσει και θα καλύπτει τις γαρίδες.
- Ενώ κάνετε τις γαρίδες, μπορείτε επίσης να βράσετε τα ζυμαρικά σύμφωνα με τις προτιμήσεις σας και να διατηρήσετε ένα φλυτζάνι από το νερό τους όταν τα στραγγίσετε.
- Πέντε λεπτά πριν γίνουν τα ζυμαρικά, ετοιμάστε τη σάλτσα Αλφρέντο.
- Σε ένα βαθύ τηγάνι βάλτε την μαργαρίνη ή το βούτυρο σε μέτρια/ψηλή θερμοκρασία.
- Προσθέστε την κρέμα γάλακτος και το μοσχοκάρυδο και αφήστε το να βράσει για ένα λεπτό.
- Ρίξτε τα ζυμαρικά και τη μισή ποσότητα του τυριού και ανακατέψτε.
- Αν η σάλτσα είναι πολύ σφιχτή προσθέστε λίγο από το νερό των ζυμαρικών.
- Ρίξτε το υπόλοιπο τυρί και πάλι εάν η σάλτσα πήξει πολύ προσθέσετε λίγο νερό ζυμαρικών και ανακατέψτε και πάλι.
- Μπορείτε να προσθέσετε αλάτι αν σας αρέσει πιο αλμυρό.
- Εγώ δεν έβαλα γιατί μου φάνηκε εντάξει.
- Σε μια πιατέλα βάλτε τα ζυμαρικά και από πάνω τις γαρίδες.
