Lemon Basil Butter Pasta with Shrimp Recipe

Hello foodie friends and happy Labor Day Weekend! Summer may be coming to an end, but there's still time to enjoy all the great things that this time of year has to offer including fresh ingredients. A dinner made with fresh ingredients is one that will certainly leave you satisfied.

Let me just start by saying that the lemons I used to make this recipe were amazing. They were large, brightly colored, and fragrant. I was inspired by these lemons to create. Now making this recipe is going to require a lot of arm work (or a KitchenAid Mixer) because we are making whipped butter!

The lemon and basil flavors compliment the pasta and shrimp so well in this recipe that it blew my mind. This recipe will leave anyone who partakes in this dish wanting more. You will ultimately look gourmet in your kitchen efforts.

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

1 lemon, zested

A few leaves of basil, chopped finely

1/2 tspn salt

1/4 tspn sugar

MAKE IT UP

Start by putting your heavy whipping cream, salt and sugar in the mixer and get it going about speed 4. This will start thickening up the cream. While the cream is getting whisked, chop up the basil and zest the lemon. I also juiced half the lemon to add to the butter. Now if you have to do this by hand, I might suggest flipping the first two steps by getting your ingredients ready and then start whisking.

slowly add the lemon zest and chopped basil into the mixer. Then I added just about half of the little cup of juice above which is 1/8 cup. Let the butter mix up for about 7 minutes. You will start to see the cream become solid and the buttermilk pull off the butter. This video will show you a visual of what I'm talking about (however, I don't know if I've ever gotten butter done in three minutes?!).

Once the butter has gotten to the right consistency, you're done. Start by draining out the buttermilk and then put the butter in a container. You'll want to cover and refrigerate the butter over night so that the flavors have time to really take hold.  

To make the dish above, simply use some sort of meat (I did baby shrimp because they're adorable). I sauteed the shrimp in about two tablespoons of the butter. Then I put in another 1/2 tablespoon into the pasta. Once the shrimp cooked I tossed the two together and served it with feta on top.

And now I'll share the picture again, because it looks and tastes so good!

BLOG/POSTS