Cajun Shrimp Pasta with Shallots and Garlic

This is a really easy weeknight dinner for anyone. Sorry I didn't take any pictures of the actual cooking, but it basically takes 10 minutes!

Almost every casual seafood restaurant has their own version of a shrimp pasta with a cream sauce, it's practically the oldest thing in the book. But does that make it any less delicious? Nope. Ask anyone in the world what the three most complementing things in the world are and they will tell you: butter, garlic, and shrimp. It's common knowledge, y'all...It's also common knowledge that most places will load up this dish with so much butter and cream that by the time you're leaving the restaurant all you want to do is close your eyes and hallucinate to the sweet sounds of flatulence and belching. Ok...maybe that's just me, whatever.

Here's the recipe list, I promise it's this easy. Oh yeah and this feeds two.

• Half a shallot - minced (not really needed if you're not familiar with them, but I wanted to one up those shitty chain restaurants! HA!)
• Three cloves of garlic - minced
• Half a stick of butter
• A couple tablespoons of cream, added to your taste.
• About a tsp of Cajun seasonings - if you have none use a bit of thyme, cayenne, and paprika. Also added to your taste.
• 10 Shrimp, or whatever number you prefer. I feel like 5 is a good amount for each diner. Also, make sure these are peeled. Really, they don't need to be, but who wants to fiddle with shells when you're hungry.
• Parsley to taste
• Red pepper flakes to taste
• Parmesan to taste
• Half lb of pasta

You'll notice I said lots of things to taste, this is because literally the MOST IMPORTANT thing that you should do when cooking is taste your food. Add salt? Taste it after. Add pepper? Taste it after. Just a 'lil sip of the sauce is all that's needed. The worst thing is ruining food by being over-seasoned. The main role of seasoning is to enhance your dish, let the natural flavor of what your cooking shine through.

Before you start cooking the sauce, cook your noodles. I forgot to do this first because I was so hyped up in a shrimp fueled frenzy and I had to stop midway. Put them in boiling water with a liberal dose of salt.

First, melt your half-stick of butter in a pan and fry up the shallot and garlic on about medium to medium high heat. You don't want to burn them. Once fragrant and starting to cook, add the shrimp into the pan. Get these slightly pink and then stir in your cream and spices. You can add whatever spices you want really, but try to stick with cajun-y spices for the sake of this recipe. Cook this down on medium heat until it passes the coating of the spoon test. This is where you dip a spoon into the sauce and it gives the spoon a nice coat over, without being too thin and sliding off.Once your noodles are done, add them to the pan and stir them around to get them fully coated. Toss in some chopped parsley and fold. Serve with crusty bread to get all the delicious sauce in the bowl.

Voila.