Spicy Shrimp and Basil Fettucine

This dish is an all-around great one: it's tasty, healthy and quick. The flavor is great - it looks like it won't be liquidy enough, but it's the perfect consistency with just enough spice. Original recipe from Cooking Light, but we made some modifications. We threw in some extra shrimp because we like lots of shrimp. Our fresh garlic was slightly mushy, so we used pre-minced jarred garlic, which works fine too. Now that we are official gardeners, we had freshly picked basil to throw in. If you don't have any, just sub 1 tsp. dried. This one is definitely a keeper!

We served it with a salad and some bruschetta made of olive oil, chopped basil and tomatoes and port salut cheese = yum!

We hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas! We had a great one, but it went by way too fast (as usual). The above shot is from a Christmas day hike off the Blue Ridge Parkway along E.B. Jeffress Park and the below is from Christmas Eve in Blowing Rock. Hope everyone has a great NYE!

Ingredients

• 8 ounces uncooked fettuccine
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1+ pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined (I put 1+ b/c we used a little extra - we like ours extra shrimpy)
• 2 cups chopped plum tomato (about 5)
• 2 tablespoons reduced-fat sour crea
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 2 tbsp. fresh basil, chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

1. Start out by prepping everything (mincing garlic, peeling shrimp, chopping tomatoes, etc.).
2. Once prep work is done, cook pasta according to the package directions. Drain and set aside.
3. While pasta is cooking, heat oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add red pepper and garlic to pan; sauté 1 minute. 
4. Add shrimp; sauté 1 minute. 
5. Stir in tomatoes, sour cream, tomato paste, basil and salt; bring to a boil (don't be alarmed that the liquid is very minimal). 
6. Reduce heat, and simmer 5 minutes (or until shrimp is done). 
7. Stir in pasta; cook 1 minute or until thoroughly heated. Top with parmesan cheese and serve.