Shrimp Alla Crema

Sometimes it takes us a long time to try new recipes.  Sometimes a realllly long time.  Such was the case with this delicious, surprisingly easy, great for weeknight/perfect for company dish.  We have something we call an “agenda book.”  Essentially it’s a rather ratty three-ring binder that holds photocopies of recipes, divided by category, that we someday hope to try.  Since our everyday cookbook (also ratty, also three-ring – can you say “classy?”) is so full of recipes that we love and are tried and true, it’s not often that I ever reach for the agenda book.  Today I had a craving for shrimp, and was looking for a new way to prepare it when I found this faded recipe, placed in our book nearly six and a half years ago.  “Why did we wait?” I asked my husband, my mouth full of succulent delicious shrimp, “This recipe is amazing.”  Truly, it is.  But then why shouldn’t it be?  It’s from a restaurant that has been known to provide one delicious dish after another, some of which I’ve posted previously on this blog.  Originally published in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch on Wednesday, July 6, 2005 (See here), I cut it in half to serve two.  Give it a try; don’t wait six and a half years like I did.

Shrimp Alla Crema

Roberto's Trattoria

20 colossal shrimp (8 to 12 per pound), cleaned and deveined

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided

2 tablespoons butter, divided

2 cups mushrooms, cleaned and sliced

1/4 cup brandy

2 cups heavy cream

1 1/2 pounds baby spinach

1 tablespoon minced garlic (about 2 cloves)

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, divided

Dust shrimp lightly with flour. Combine 2 tablespoons oil and 1 tablespoon butter in a large skillet. Place over medium-high heat. When butter melts, add shrimp; cook 1 minute per side. Remove shrimp from the skillet; set aside.

Add mushrooms to the skillet; sauté until they release their liquid, about 2 to 4 minutes. Remove the skillet from the heat, add brandy, then return the skillet to the heat. Sauté for 1 minute. Add cream and bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook until the sauce has reduced by half.

Meanwhile, heat the remaining 2 tablespoons oil and the remaining 1 tablespoon butter in a large frying pan or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add spinach; sauté until limp, about 4 to 5 minutes, adding the garlic during the last minute of cooking.

Just before serving, add shrimp to sauce; as soon as shrimp are warm, remove from heat.

Divide the spinach among four plates; top each with about 1/2 cup sauce, 5 shrimp and 2 tablespoons Parmesan. 

Yield: 4 servings.

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