Alfredo with Crab, Shrimp and Mushrooms

Alfredo with Crab, Shrimp and MushroomsTo me, one of the greatest thing about Italian is the noodles. But sometimes I want something different than a tomato-based sauce. Enter the creamy Alfredo sauce.

For this particular recipe, I start with the traditional Alfredo recipe, but then add crab, tiny shrimp and mushrooms. You don’t have to add any of those, however, so don’t worry.

Serves 2-4 depending on appetite.

Ingredients:

Noodles – Fettuccine, Linguine, Penne, Rigatoni, or other pasta
Olive Oil
1 small can of crab
1 small can of shrimp
Mushrooms – 4-8oz
½ stick butter unsalted
2-3 cloves garlic
2 cups heavy cream
2 cups Parmesan cheese

Instructions:

Preheat medium pan or skillet, then add olive oil. When oil shimmers, add crab and shrimp. Saute for 3-4 minutes, or until heated through. Remove from pan and keep warm.

Add more oil to the pan, and when heated, add mushrooms. Sauté mushrooms just until they begin to release juices. Remove from pan and keep warm.

In same pan, melt butter, then sauté garlic for 2 minutes.

Add cream. Whisk while the cream warms.
Once cream is warm (not hot) add Parmesan cheese. Whisk constantly as it begins to bubble slightly. At this point, it’s very important to keep your whisk moving so that you don’t scorch the cream. Turn off heat and continue for 1-2 minutes. Do NOT wait for the sauce to thicken the way it is in a bottled sauce. If you do, you’ll end up with a sauce that is far too thick by the time you serve it.

Remove about a cup of the sauce, then add prepared noodles to the pan. Fold noodles into sauce.

Add most of the crab and shrimp to pan, but keep some in reserve to use as a topping. Fold into sauce and noodles.

Plate noodles. Top with mushrooms, then remaining crab and shrimp. Drizzle some sauce over the top, then sprinkle a bit of Parmesan over the entire plate.

Serve immediately. Complete your meal with a nice tossed salad and garlic bread.

Note: You are certainly welcome to use fresh crab and shrimp, or a frozen variety. I happen to like using the cans, because doing so properly portions the seafood. However, if I’m preparing this for guests, I’ll normally use Jumbo shrimp, served with the basic Alfredo Sauce.

As I said in the beginning, you can omit the crab, shrimp and mushrooms and just do a plain Alfredo sauce. If you’re new to cooking, you may want to do that and work your way up to the additions. But either way, you’ll have a delicious Italian favorite. Try it out, then leave me a comment to tell me how it went. Until next time, don’t forget:

Play with your food!

Lane


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Lane

About Lane

Lane Baldwin is a an internationally-acclaimed singer, songwriter, author and food lover. He wasn't trained in France, and he doesn't have his own TV show. He just loves to cook, and loves sharing what he's learned over the years. In his "real life," Lane has toured the world, bringing his special brand of Blues-infused Americana to millions of fans. At home he leads a quiet life filled with good books, good food and good friends.