♥ ♥ Penne Alla Betsy from the Pioneer Woman ♥ ♥

Lately I have been enjoying reading The Pioneer Woman’s blog and going through her cookbooks. So many tasty recipes but wait….that’s not all. There are great stories about living on a cattle ranch, cowboys…real cowboys, and loads of gorgeous photos.

It’s a life I love reading about but I know I couldn’t hack it. Living so remotely would be a piece of cake – both Doug and I would love that – having acres and acres of nothing between our little home and city life.

But I was not born into that lifestyle which translates to ….I am seriously too lazy to take all that on. You should see our house…….I ought to name it Dust Bunny Colony instead of Squirrel Head Manor.




Laziness is also one of the reasons we don’t have livestock even though we have 7 little acres zoned for chickens, horses, pigs and goats. I’d love fresh eggs but I couldn’t kill a chicken destined for a roasting pan. Goats are one of my favorites (have you seen our Christmas tree ornaments) but there is the care and feeding which = zero vacations.

So, this brings me to the part of The Pioneer Woman life where I will participate – food!



Here is a recipe we are adding in our rotation of meal plans. It's delicious.

Shrimp with Penne Pasta

Ingredients

Salt
1 pound penne pasta (I used ¾ of a box so just under 1 pound)
1 ½ pounds large shrimp, peeled
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
5 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 small onion, finely chopped
1/2 cup white wine
One 14.5-ounce cans tomato sauce
1 cup half-and-half
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
6 leaves fresh basil, cut in chiffonade
Freshly ground black pepper

Directions..........

Bring a pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook the penne until al dente (firm yet tender). Drain and set aside.

My husband peeled the shrimp and placed them in a bowl so I wouldn’t touch the raw shrimp. It gives me a horrible rash if I touch them raw or get the juice on me.

Now heat up a large skillet, add 1 tablespoon of butter and 1 tablespoon of the olive oil. After this melts add the shrimp. Cook on both sides until the buggers turn opaque. Remove them from skillet and set aside to cool. You’ll need to chop them up later. Cooking the shrimp only takes about 3 minutes.



In that same skillet add the remaining tablespoon butter and tablespoon of olive oil. Once the butter softens (don’t let it burn), add the garlic and onion. Stir occasionally until the onion is limp and translucent. Maybe 3 or 4 minutes, depending on your stove.



Now add the wine. Stir it up well before tipping in the tomato sauce. Reduce the heat to low and pour in the half-and-half, trying to keep the temperature low so it simmers.

While that sauce is simmering gently, pull the tails off the shrimp, if they have any, and chop shrimp into pieces, tossing them into the sauce as you go. Now add parsley and basil and give it a good but gentle stir.




Is the pasta done and drained? Add it to the sauce and stir to coat the noodles. Season with salt and pepper per your taste.



Read more at Foodnetwork

We loved this dish. Usually I don't add tomatoes or tomatoes sauce to any sort of shrimp dish but this one rocked. And yes, as lazy as I am this one was easy enough to toss together on a work night. Perfect, try it - you will thank me. I'm sure you'll be seeing more recipes here from Pioneer Woman. If you have a favorite please share with me ♥ ♥

I am sharing this with Beth Fish's Weekend Cooking Series.



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