PW's Penne a la Betsy

Yep, I am still alive and I even manage to cook once in a while! This is one I have been wanting to make ever since I first read the recipe in The Pioneer Woman Cooks but I put it off for whatever reason. Then, on her Food Network show recently, she cooked it in 20 minutes! I am totally down for something that fast and delicious. So I bought some shrimp and gave it a whirl :)

The Ingredients:

1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 pound penne pasta, uncooked
2 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 dry white wine (I used Pinot Grigio)
1 (14.5) oz can tomato sauce
1 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup chopped parsley
6 basil leaves cut in chiffonade
salt and pepper to taste

Now, I did not get this done in 20 minutes. Mainly because the pasta. If the water had already been boiling when I started the timer, I would have made it though. So, start a pot of water for the pasta. Then get your dicing, mincing, chopping and chiffonading out of the way. What is "chiffonade"? Easy peasy! Lay the 6 basil leaves on top of each other and roll them up lengthwise into a long tube. Then cut the roll in very thin sections like a loaf of bread. You will end up with long-ish thin strips of basil.
Now get cooking! Heat 1 tablespoon each of butter and olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. When the skillet is hot, add in the shrimp and cook them until they turn pink. It happens pretty fast no matter how big your shrimp are, but the smaller, the faster so don't walk away. 

When the shrimp are pink, remove them to a bowl or plate. Add the remaining bitter and oil and get the skillet nice and warm again. Then add the onion and garlic and cook until translucent. Again, it won't take but a few minutes.

Pour in the wine! Cook and stir while the alcohol evaporates, less than a minute.

Add the tomato sauce.

And the cream.

Reduce to a simmer and let it thicken up some. You are the best judge if it is too thin, stir occasionally while you wait. Also while you wait, run a knife through the cooked shrimp to make bite-sized pieces.

Hopefully by now your penne is cooked so add in the shrimp...

...and the herbs...

...and stir it to combine. Grab the drained pasta and add it to the sauce.

A final stir to combine gives you this lovely mess. Salt and pepper to taste.

Serve and enjoy! We all had seconds! Even Pattie who decided she didn't like shrimp at the last minute. The pieces were big enough for her to eat around them though. Absolutely delicious!!