Shrimp Scampi Pasta Bake

I created this recipe 1o months ago. I’m not sure why it’s taken me so long to get around to writing it up. Life has been full of changes since then so maybe that’s why. We’re expecting our second child in the next few months. We’d added other projects here, and my focus has just been elsewhere.

Way back when I worked on this recipe we were in the midst of our pasta-bake-a-thon. The Witch loves a good shrimp scampi. We’d make them in separate pans, one full of boiling water for the pasta, and the other for the sauce and shrimp. Our daughter was just over a year old at the time so the additional time and dishes made it challenging. Then we set out to wonder if we could just make it a bake. Now here we are!

Some notes on this. This definitely requires a long thin noodle. It probably will not work at all with a tube shaped pasta. There’s simply not enough liquid in this recipe to cover the pasta if it’s tubular. The reduction in liquid is so that the pasta will soak up most of it and then leave just enough for a light buttery sauce at the end. There is butter in this recipe. Most of the other bakes don’t have any, but really, what’s shrimp scampi without butter?! The heavy cream gives this a bit of an alfredo style. The final note: make sure you are using frozen uncooked shrimp. If you use thawed, raw, or thawed cooked you are almost guaranteed to overcook the shrimp. No one wants overcooked shrimp.

Mix it up a bit with some additional garlic. Try out a touch of onion powder. Do you like it spicy? Add some paprika or cayenne pepper for a kick. What might really kick it up would be some blackening seasoning! Whatever your style get out there and try something new.

Ingredients

• 1 pound Linguine

• 1 Cup heavy cream

• 1 1/2 Cups chicken broth

• 1/2 Cup butter (1 stick)

• 1 teaspoon minced garlic

• 1/2 teaspoon pepper

• 3/4 - 1 Cup grated Parmesan cheese

• 1/2 pound frozen large shrimp (31-40 per lb)

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees

2. Place the heavy cream, chicken broth, garlic, and pepper in a 9x13 baking pan and mix to combine

3. Add in the linguine ensuring that it’s completely covered by the liquid and spread evenly across the pan

4. Slice the butter into 8, 1 Tablespoon pieces, and evenly place in the pan

5. Add the shrimp to the pan. It does not matter if they are covered by the liquid

6. Tightly cover the pan with tinfoil and bake for 37 minutes

7. Remove the pan from the oven and remove the tinfoil

8. Mix in the Parmesan cheese. While mixing ensure that the linguine is separated.

9. Return to the oven, uncovered, and bake for an additional 15 minutes.

10. Plate and enjoy

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