Penne Alla Betsy
Serves 4-6
Adapted from The Pioneer Woman Cooks
We’d like to meanly note that the “alla” is Ree’s typo not ours!
1 pound penne pasta
1 pound medium shrimp
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely minced
½ cup dry white wine
1 14.5 ounce can petite diced tomatoes, with their juice
1 cup half and half or light cream
½ cup milk for thinning
Handful of chopped fresh parsley
Handful of chopped fresh basil or 1 tablespoon pesto
Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
Peel the shrimp and set aside. Heat the butter and the oil together over medium heat in a medium sized skillet . Add the onion and cook until limp and glossy. Add the garlic and sauté for another minute, reducing the heat as necessary to keep the garlic from burning. Add the wine and stir until mostly evaporated. Add the tomato sauce and stir well. Reduce the heat to low and add the cream. Bring to a simmer. Add the shrimp, cutting into pieces if large, and stir gently.
Cook at a low simmer for 3-4 minutes, just until the shrimp turns pink and firm. Stir in the salt and pepper, and pesto if using.
Dump in the herbs and the cooked and drained pasta and stir to combine. Add a little milk if needed to thin the sauce.
Serve with crusty bread
Photo by Ken Williams for The Concord Monitor
Chocolate Sheet Cake
serves 15-20
Adapted from The Pioneer Woman Cooks
Makes 1 12X18 inch cake
For the Cake:
2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup buttermilk
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 sticks butter
4 heaping tablespoons cocoa powder
In a large bowl stir together the flour, sugar and salt. In another bowl mix the buttermilk, eggs, vanilla and baking soda. Mix well with a fork and set aside. Melt the butter in a small saucepan over low heat and add the cocoa powder, stir well and remove from the heat.
Meanwhile, bring 1 cup of water to a boil. Add to the melted butter/cocoa mixture and whisk well to combine. Pour the chocolate/butter mixture into the flour and stir together. Add the egg mixture and stir until very smooth, scraping the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula to combine completely.
Pour into an ungreased jelly roll pan or rimmed cookie sheet and bake for 20 minutes.
While the cake is baking, make the frosting:
2 sticks of butter
4 heaping tablespoons cocoa powder
6 tablespoons light cream at warm room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
16 ounces powdered sugar
½ cup finely chopped pecans (optional)
Melt the butter over medium low heat and add the cocoa powder. Whisk well to combine. Add the cream, vanilla and sugar and whisk well to combine. Add the pecans if using and pour evenly over the warm cake. Spread quickly with a metal spatula. Allow to cool and serve to 15-20 grateful people.
Posted by The Fru-Gals at 5:23 AM 5 comments
Labels: food and photos, frugal feasts
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