Ready for some heat!

I just scrolled down to look over my most recent posts, and discovered a common thread ... they are all about SNOW! Well, they may not all focus on the topic of snow itself (although this one certainly does), but there are far too many images of snow, references to snow, and stories about adventures in snow for even this Minnesotan, winter-loving girl.

I'm ready for some heat!

Perhaps that's why I was drawn to this new recipe the other day, that boasted cajun spices and summery seafood. Although I enjoy a wide variety of food and like to consider myself somewhat adventurous in the kitchen, for some reason shrimp just hasn't made it onto my plate very often. But the other day I realized we had half a bag of mini shrimp in the freezer, so I decided to whip up something in the shrimp + pasta area. And this is what we ended up with:

It was delicious. Served with a little French bread and some white wine, it was the perfect remedy for some post-Christmas, winter blues. I know many of you have already visited my facebook link (and some have even taken the recipe for a test spin!), but I thought I'd post it again here because it quite simply is that good. Now, without further ado, I present to you:

Carolyn's Creamy Cajun Catch

Creamy Cajun Shrimp Linguine

8 ounces uncooked linguine
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 plum tomatoes, chopped
1 pound peeled and deveined medium shrimp
1 1/2 teaspoons Cajun seasoning
1/2 teaspoon ground red pepper
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup half-and-half
1/3 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Cook pasta according to package directions. Place pasta in a large bowl; keep warm.

Melt butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion; saute 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add garlic and tomatoes; saute 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Sprinkle shrimp with Cajun seasoning, red pepper, and salt. Add shrimp mixture to pan; saute 3 minutes or until shrimp are almost done; remove from heat. Stir in half-and-half. Pour shrimp mixture over pasta; toss. Sprinkle with parsley.

Note: We used mini shrimp because that's what we had, and it worked great. When my mom made this recipe she didn't have any fresh tomatoes, just canned (diced? Or whole peeled? I don't remember). So she used her canned tomatoes and said it still turned out great, just a bit runnier probably.

Let me know if you try it out or have any other variations you'd like to suggest.

Bon Appetite!

To browse other Pierson recipe favorites, go here. First pasta photo and entire recipe taken from here. Linguine with Spicy Shrimp is a Cooking Light recipe found on myrecipes.com