Lemon Thyme Shrimp Spaghetti Alfredo
Sundays are usually our laundry & cooking day and after weeks of travel for work, there were plenty of loads to be done. After laundry though, we decided to make a quick pasta meal while using up some of our remaining thyme from Thanksgiving plus whatever we had on hand. We ordered Persian food last night and it came with extra raw onions and a pat of butter so that went into the recipe along with some frozen shrimp, peas, and a can of corn. Leftover parmesan? Yup, that went in too. I hate wasting food so if I can find a way to make it work in a recipe, I will. You can make this with chicken or tofu and it would still taste great. Can’t go wrong with Alfredo sauce and this version uses less cheese and butter for the amount of servings so it’s a winner. See below for a brief history of Alfredo sauce.
Lemon Thyme Shrimp Spaghetti Alfredo
Makes 8 servings (2 cups each)
Calories per serving: 455
Prep Time: 30 mins
Cook Time: 40 mins
Ingredients
1 (16 oz) pkg whole grain thin spaghetti
1/2 Tbs. + 1/8 tsp. salt
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) salted butter
2/3 cup onion, diced
6 cloves garlic, chopped
1 Tbs. fresh thyme leaves, chopped
1/2 tsp. lemon zest (about half a lemon)
1 cup milk
3 Tbs. all-purpose flour
2/3 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 cup frozen peas, thawed
1 can (15.25 oz) corn kernels
1 lb. medium shrimp (thawed or fresh, deveined and tails removed)
2 Tbs. lemon juice (about 1 lemon)
Parsley for garnish
Method
In a large pot, make the spaghetti as instructed on the box with 1/2 Tbsp. salt in the water. When done, reserve 1 cup of the pasta water and drain the rest. Set aside.
Place a large sauce pan on medium high heat. Melt butter and add onions. Fry onions until translucent (about 5 mins) then add garlic and fry for another 2-3 mins. Add thyme and lemon zest and fry for 1-2 minutes more.
While the onions are frying, in a small bowl, whisk together 1/4 cup (of the 1 cup) milk and flour until smooth.
Reduce heat to medium, push onions and garlic to one side of pan, and add the milk & flour mixture while whisking constantly to avoid lumps.
Whisk in the rest of the milk, reserved pasta water, and parmesan cheese. Raise heat to cook the mixture until slightly thickened while whisking constantly.
Lower heat to medium, stir in the peas and corn.
Toss shrimp with 1/8 tsp. salt. Add shrimp to pan and stir. Cover and cook for about 8-10 minutes or until shrimps are translucent and done.
Take off heat, add lemon juice, and toss the pasta with the sauce until evenly coated.
Garnish with parsley and serve.
