Sunday, February 22, 2015

Creamy Shrimp & Chicken Marinara - Easy Low Carb

This evening both of my sons came for dinner. I made easy Creamy Shrimp & Chicken Marinara. This morning I took a pound of large raw wild shrimp out of the freezer that I picked up at Costco yesterday and placed them in a bowl in the fridge to thaw out a bit. I simply diced up 1 pound of boneless chicken breasts and sauteed them in a little olive oil in my nonstick wok until they were opaque (I used the wok because there is less splatter on my stove since it's deeper than a skillet). I added a heaping cup of quartered fresh mushrooms to the pan and sauteed a bit longer until they released their juices. I drained the liquid and juices from the chicken and mushrooms and then added the partially thawed shrimp and sauteed for about 5 minutes until they began to cook and release their juices and then drained it again so my sauce wouldn't be watery. I added a generous pinch of red pepper flakes and then poured in a jar of DelGrosso's Fireworks Sauce and simmered it uncovered for about 10 minutes. I stirred in about 1/4 cup of heavy cream to balance the heat of the spicy sauce and simmered an additional 5 minutes and then set aside.

While the sauce was simmering, I used my Paderno Spiralizer to make a big pile of zoodles (zucchini noodles). You can make a bunch of zoodles in just a couple of minutes. I salted them and wrapped in paper towels to absorb the extra moisture they release and set it aside for 15 to 20 minutes. I lightly sauteed them in a bit of olive oil and seasoned with a pinch of sea salt. I served the zoodles in big pasta bowls topped with the rich and thick Creamy Shrimp & Chicken Marinara and then topped with shredded Parmigiano Reggiano. It was delicious and the addition of cream balanced the spiciness of the sauce which went excellent with the shrimp and chicken. If you've never made zoodles, click on the link to see my little tutorial on how to make non-watery zoodles using a Paderno Spiralizer: How to Make Non-Watery Zoodles. I snapped a few photos of our meal below. Enjoy!


I used half of this bag and sealed the other half back up and popped it back in the freezer

      

2 comments:

CyberSis said...

Hi GGC,

I have some beautiful Gulf shrimp in the freezer that have been waiting for this recipe! Aha, I see that you use the deep pan to saute chicken, too! Love that little trick! :-) My wok is packed up somewhere, as my present kitchen is too cramped to keep it handy. So when I need to saute something messy I grab a stockpot! My hubby doesn't quite get it, but I tell him that when he cooks, someone else magically cleans up after him ... but when I cook I have to clean up my *own* messes, so I try to minimize them! ;-)

Gourmet Girl Cooks said...

Hi CyberSis,

It really does help reduce the splattering by using a deeper pan doesn't it.

Regarding the shrimp...I had originally considered just simmering it in the sauce in its frozen state until it cooked but was glad I sauteed it first so I could drain off the liquid. I was quite surprised at how much liquid came out of them. :-)