Fettuccine with Shrimp, Zucchini, and Pine Nut Cream Sauce

-By Bill

So it’s been hot outside (it is ggoing to be one of those ‘remember how hot it was in the summer of 2010?’ kind of years), I was tired and hungry, so I basically wanted to make something in under 20 minutes.  How do you do that?  Pasta!

Equipment: 1 large sauce pan/stock pot (for cooking pasta), 1 small sauce pan, 1 saute pan (12” is best), a colander and a blender.

Ingredients: Fettuccine (sub whatever pasta you like), shrimp (if you like), zucchini (again, sub as you please), chicken stock, cream, pine nuts and basil.  I made this for 2, so measure accordingly (I used approximately ¼ cup pine nuts, ½ cup stock, ½ cup cream, 10 shrimp (about 8oz), and a handful of basil:

Ingriedients

Put your pasta water on a flame to boil while separately bringing the pine nuts and stock to a simmer.  Cover and let cook the nuts for 10 minutes (or until your pasta water comes to a boil).  The idea is to hydrate and soften to nuts so they can be blended into a sauce:

Pine Nuts and Stock

 Meanwhile, put a separate sauté pan on medium heat to preheat. Once heated, add a little cooking oil (I use canola) and add the zucchini (which I’ve previously chopped):

Saute Zucchini

At this point your pasta water should be boiling, so add your pasta to it and cook accordingly.  While that is going, check the zucchini.  Once it starts to develop color (5-7 minutes), add to it the shrimp (which I’ve also chopped up and salted for seasoning, just a small pinch will do):

Add Shrimp

Overcooked shrimp = bad, so only let this go for 4-5 minutes, occasionally shaking the pan to cook on all sides and continue to the brown the zucchini.  The 12” pan really helps here as nothing is crowded and has plenty of space to cook on its own.   Once some color has developed on the shrimp, add a pinch of salt to season both the shrimp and zucchini.  Zucchini holds a lot of moisture, so salting it before it gets a good sauté will cause it to steam rather than brown.

Meanwhile, put the pine nuts, stock and cream into a blender and buzz it until it is as smooth as it’ll get (Note: hot liquids require removal of the blender spout (the, failure to do so will result is an enormous mess (and no sauce)):

Blend the Sauce

At this point your pasta should be about done, so when it is, drain it and add to the shrimp and zucchini along with the sauce (use of Miss Jenny apple shaped spoon rest optional):

Combine Sauce with Shrimp/Zucchini

Season the whole mixture (to taste) with salt and let sit for a minute.  This will help allow the pasta to soak up some of the sauce and settle everything to a consistent temperature.  Plate up, topped with some fresh basil and shaved Parmesan:

The Complete Dish

Enjoy!

-Bill