Shrimp and Veggie Pasta

Hmm.... do you know how hard it is to find a recipe for pasta sauce that isn't tomato based? Oh, and it can't be an alfredo sauce, because that'd be too boring? I know, I know... I'm far too picky, but I really wanted to try out a really good recipe for my special tomato-basil infused spaghetti. And I ended up finding it! After rummaging through all of my recipe books, could you imagine that I would only find the appropriate recipe in a Highliner© recipe booklet I had picked up at the supermarket?!? I know! Insane :P

I did make a couple of modifications... okay, I completely obliterated the original recipe, but I must credit the Highliner© booklet as my inspiration for this lovely pasta.

Shrimp and Veggie Pasta

Ingredients:
- 6 oz spaghetti, uncooked
- 1 cup cooked frozen shrimp, defrosted
- 1 tbsp butter
- 2 tsp garlic
- 1/2 tsp each thyme, parsley, basil and tarragon (dried)
- 3 tbsp all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup chicken broth
- 1 splash of cooking sherry
- 1/2 cup tomatoes, diced
- 1/2 red pepper, sliced
- 1/2 orange pepper, sliced
- 1 small onion, sliced
- Stem of one broccoli, julienned
- salt and pepper to taste

Method:
1. Boil water to cook pasta; in the meantime, cut up all the veggies.
2. Melt butter over medium heat in non-stick fry pan, add in garlic and fry until fragrant.
3. Add onions to frying pan, cooking until transparent. Sprinkle in the herbs.
4. Add in the flour, stirring constantly to prevent clumping. Add in the chicken broth, sherry and shrimp. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Reduce the heat to low, cover and let simmer.
5. Boil pasta according to directions. Add broccoli, and red and orange peppers to the boiling pasta water, 5mins before the pasta is completely cooked.
6. Drain pasta and boiled vegetables, shaking until semi-dry. Add spaghetti to the frying pan and stir well. Coat pasta with the sauce, adding more chicken broth (or even some milk) for more moisture. Dish out and enjoy!

This recipe very tasty. I wasn't quite sure how it would turn out, but the veggies were beautifully tender and the shrimp was a nice touch. I'm sure you could use sliced chicken in place of the shellfish, but I would go for shrimp anyday. The rest of my family was eating regular tomato-based spaghetti sauce with regular spaghetti pasta, but when my mom saw the yummy dish I had cooked up she had to try some. She said that it could have used more salt (I actually don't like my sauce too salty) and after she shook on some sauce, she really took a liking too it.