Cajun shrimp with orecchiette is a pasta dish that combines the bold, spicy flavors of Cajun cuisine with the unique texture of orecchiette pasta. Orecchiette are small, dish-shaped pasta that is shaped like little ears. The dish typically features shrimp cooked with Cajun seasoning, often in a creamy sauce or tossed with vegetables, and then combined with the orecchiette pasta.
I’m calling this recipe ‘Cajun’, but I am using Old Bay seasoning due to personal preference. Old Bay and Cajun seasoning do have differences, but in many cases, they can be used interchangeably. While Old Bay has a very specific ingredient list that gives it its powerful flavor, Cajun seasoning blends usually have more significant amounts of red pepper than Old Bay, so the mix is generally spicier.
I like spicy but not to the point of flames coming out of my mouth so Old Bay it is!
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Cajun Shrimp Pasta
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Rating: 5
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Votes: 1
Rating: 5
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Instructions
Peel & devein shrimp, rinse & dry on paper towel. Place shrimp shells in 2 cups of vegetable broth & simmer for 10 minutes. Strain shells from broth. Discard shells. Set broth aside.
Heat oil over medium heat in a large sauté pan. Add onion, zucchini, celery & garlic. Cook for about 8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until they begin to soften & the onions are a little translucent but not too browned.
Add broth to deglaze pan, loosening any browned bits. Add pasta, tomato sauce, Old Bay seasoning & salt. Stir to combine & separate the pasta. Cover the pan & increase heat to bring it to a boil. If it seems the liquid is too thick, add a bit of milk or water.
Once it comes to a boil, reduce the heat to to maintain a lively simmer but not a hard boil. Continue cooking, covered but stirring occasionally & trying to keep the pasta submerged, until pasta is tender, about 10-13 minutes.
Stir in shrimp & continue cooking, covered, until the shrimp are cooked, about 3 minutes. Do not overcook.
Add cream cheese, stirring to melt & distribute the cheese.
Remove from heat & serve immediately.
There is definitely more to rhubarb than just dessert. While rhubarb is generally treated as a fruit, it has also made many popular appearances in recipes of the day as a savory ingredient.
Braised in chicken stock with a little brown sugar makes a nice side dish for pork, lamb or fish. In sauces, it teams well with onion, sugar and star anise and tarragon for salmon or trout. If your serving pork, onion, sugar, cinnamon, allspice and cloves all pair well with rhubarb.
In September, 2016, I posted a recipe for Spiced Pork Tenderloin with Rhubarb Chutney. It became real popular with my blog followers so I thought I would share another pork/rhubarb idea. This recipe was one of those newspaper clippings from yesteryear that is still in my ‘file’ today.
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Rhubarb Orange Pork Country Ribs
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Rating: 5
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Votes: 1
Rating: 5
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Instructions
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Preheat oven to 375 F. Trim excess fat from short ribs; cut into serving size pieces. Place some of the fat in a heavy skillet & heat until skillet is well greased. Discard any remaining pieces.
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Combine flour, salt & pepper in a plastic bag. Place short ribs in bag & shake to coat evenly; reserve any extra flour. Place ribs in skillet & brown slowly on both sides. Transfer to a shallow baking dish, making a single layer.
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Top ribs with slices of onion, orange & celery. Toss rhubarb, sugar, reserved flour mixture & cloves together & sprinkle over all. Add water to the baking pan. Cover tightly with foil. Bake 35 minutes or until ribs are tender. Uncover & continue baking 10 minutes longer.
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Recipe Notes
- The original recipe used pork chops but our preference is with pork country style ribs instead.
Seven Layer Salad was a popular salad in the 70’s and 80’s. It was perfect for most any large gathering. Typically made with lettuce, onion, celery, frozen peas, boiled eggs, bacon and cheese. The salad was topped off with a thick layer of mayonnaise based dressing. It was always prepared a day before your event, covered and refrigerated overnight. The salad was easy to transport, a beautiful presentation and had a great taste. It could be tossed at serving time or let everyone scoop out their own serving, ‘digging’ through all the layers.
Today, there are unlimited salad combinations and ways to serve them. It seems this old-fashioned salad has found its way into Mason jars, plastic cups and small individual bowls. Just a great summer lunch to take to work, providing you can keep it cool until eaten. Make it in the evening and its ready to go in the morning. The nice thing is you can personalize it in your choice of veggies, dressing, type of cheese and even add meat or fish if you wish. All that being said, here’s a little outline of what you are seeing in the blog picture of the Individual Overnight Layered Salads.
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Overnight Layered Salad
An old idea with a few new twists.
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Rating: 5
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Ingredients
Salad ingredients
- mixed greens, spinach or Romaine
- celery, thinly sliced
- green onion, thinly sliced
- frozen peas
- red pepper, chopped
- radishes, thinly sliced
- chick peas, rinsed & drained
- grape or cherry tomatoes, halved & seeded
- black olives, sliced
- bacon, crisply fried & crumbled
- eggs, hard boiled & sliced or chopped
- old cheddar cheese, shredded
Ingredients
Salad ingredients
- mixed greens, spinach or Romaine
- celery, thinly sliced
- green onion, thinly sliced
- frozen peas
- red pepper, chopped
- radishes, thinly sliced
- chick peas, rinsed & drained
- grape or cherry tomatoes, halved & seeded
- black olives, sliced
- bacon, crisply fried & crumbled
- eggs, hard boiled & sliced or chopped
- old cheddar cheese, shredded
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Votes: 1
Rating: 5
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Instructions
Boil eggs to hard boil stage being careful not to overcook.Cool in cold water, peel & set aside. Crisp fry bacon, drain & blot on paper towel. If using tomatoes you may want to seed them.
Layer the ingredients from the outside rim, (of whatever your serving container is) & then in toward the middle, so that you can see some of everything from the outside of the serving container. Top with salad dressing of choice, making sure it covers the salad completely to 'seal' it. Refrigerate overnight.
When ready to serve combine ingredients & enjoy!
Recipe Notes
OTHER OPTIONS:
- GREENS: Iceberg lettuce, romaine, butter lettuce or spinach
- VEGGIES: carrots, broccoli, red onions, jalapenos, fresh mushrooms, cucumber, zucchini, water chestnuts
- CHEESE: your favorite kind
- SALAD DRESSING: Ranch or your preference
- MEAT or FISH: ham, turkey, salmon or tuna
