Penne al a Chardonnay

I've been looking for a pink penne vodka sauce of some sort to make my husband's belly dance! I've tried two different recipes already that were mediocre and figured I'd give it another try after stumbling upon a recipe on Pinterest, and I'm glad I did! Anthony took his first bite and as I watched him, he made a face, and I quickly asked "it's not good?", he said, "No, this is delicious! It's really good, this is like eating in an Italian restaurant, what did you do?" At that moment, I smiled a mile wide and said "third times a charm, I guess!" He knows how nervous I get when trying to recreate good Italian food that meats his palette. The secret ingredient you ask? Using chardonnay instead of vodka, who knew!

Though I found this on Pinterest, this recipe originated from The Pioneer Woman's blog from her Penne a la Betsy recipe and I made some revisions by adding extra garlic and Italian seasoning instead of parsley. I also made the sauce a night before and I think that helped marry all the flavors. This dinner would be perfect for meatless Monday, so last night after coming home from work, I put the sauce on the stove, boiled some penne, sauteed the shrimp in some butter, had some Italian bread warming in the oven, and a beautiful Penne al a Chardonnay was served with smiles all around!

Ingredients:

·         3/4 pounds Penne Pasta

·         1 pound Shrimp

·         3 Tablespoons Butter

·         3 Tablespoons Olive Oil

·         1 whole Onion diced(small)

·         3 cloves Garlic diced

·         1/2 cup White Wine, Or To Taste 

·         1 can Tomato Sauce (8 Oz)

·         1 cup Heavy Cream

·         Fresh Basil, To Taste

·         Salt and Pepper to taste

·         Italian seasoning

Directions:

1.Cook the penne pasta until al dente

2.Peel, devein and rinse (under cool water) 1 pound of extra large shrimp. Heat about 1 tbsp. butter and olive oil in a skillet. Add the shrimp and cook for a couple minutes until just opaque. Don’t overcook and remove from heat and let cool for a few minutes. Now, put the cooked shrimp on the cutting board and pull off the tails. Chop the shrimp into bite –sized pieces and set aside.

3.Finely dice one small onion and mince three cloves of garlic.

4.In a large skillet heat 2 tablespoons of butter and 2 tablespoons olive oil. Add the garlic and onion and sauté, stirring occasionally. After the garlic and onions have cooked a bit add your white wine (I used Rawson’s Retreat Chardonnay). Let the wine evaporate for a few minutes, stirring occasionally.

5.Now add an 8-ounce can of plain tomato sauce (I used Cento). Stir well until combined and then add 1 cup of heavy cream. Continue stirring. Turn heat down to low and let simmer.

6.Now chop your herbs, about a tablespoon of chopped parsley and about the same amount of chopped basil. I also added a dash of Italian seasoning too for some more flavor

7.Now add your chopped shrimp back into the tomato cream sauce. Give it a stir and add salt and pepper to taste. Throw in your herbs and stir until combined. Finally add your cooked penne pasta and give it a good stir and garnish with some fresh basil!

Bon Appetit!