Cook’s notes
There’s no shortage of protein in this dish. And it’s so easy to make. If you need proof of just how easy, let me tell you that’s it’s my husband who cooked this pasta dish. He’s more of an eater than a cook, but he pulled this off beautifully.
Prep time and effort are cut down considerably if you use shelled and deveined shrimps. They’re often sold frozen so you have to thaw them first. Once thawed, it is a better practice to press the shrimps between stacks of paper towels to remove excess moisture. This makes it easier for the seasoning to stick to the shrimps.
Since we used shrimps that were already shelled and deveined, “400 grams / 14 oz” is the shelled weight. If using whole shrimps with heads and shells that you will discard, allot six to eight large shrimps, or eight to ten medium shrimps, per person.
We mix our own Cajun seasoning (included in the recipe) but store-bought is quite okay to use. Two to two-and-a-half tablespoons should be fine.
Cajun shrimp and mushroom spaghetti
Ingredients
- 400 grams shelled and deveined shrimps (14 oz)
Cajun seasoning
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 ½ teaspoons dried oregano
- 1 ½ teaspoons smoked paprika
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 1 ½ teaspoons cayenne powder chili powder may be substituted
- 1 ½ teaspoons dried thyme
- 3 teaspoons sea salt or 1 ½ teaspoons refined salt
To cook the dish
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 250 grams button mushrooms (8.8 oz) thinly sliced
- salt
- pepper
- 1 cup whipping cream
- 200 grams spaghetti (7 oz) cooked and drained
- parsley chopped
Instructions
- Mix the shrimps with all the ingredients for the Cajun seasoning.
- Melt two tablespoons butter in a heavy pan and cook the shrimps, stirring often, for about two minutes.
- Scoop out the shrimps and set aside.
- Heat the remaining butter in the pan.
- Brown the mushrooms slices with generous pinches of salt and pepper.
- Pour in the cream; sprinkle in salt and pepper.
- Toss in the cooked pasta.
- Set aside half of the shrimps for serving and stir the rest into the pan.
- Divide the Cajun shrimp and mushroom spaghetti among four bowls.
- Top with the reserved shrimps and chopped parsley before serving.
Pepper cheesesteak