Creamy Tuscan Shrimp For Easter Dinner & Romeo

I’m aware that ham or lamb with sides make up the typical Easter meal, but for past several years I haven’t been inclined to go with a traditional meal for certain occasions plus I had some shrimp in the freezer that I wanted to use.  So, I opted to make Creamy Tuscan Shrimp that we had raved about several years ago  and I made extra sauce so we could have it over pasta.  Eliza's family and Cindy's friend Ernie joined us to make a party of eight.

Creamy Tuscan Shrimp

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons butter

2½ pound shrimp, deveined, and tails removed – see note

salt, to taste

pepper, to taste

9 cloves garlic, minced

2 cups halved grape tomatoes

8 cups chopped spinach

3 cups heavy cream

1 cup freshly grated Parmesan

5 tablespoons basil, thinly sliced

Note: I used 41-60 count wild caught shrimp as I had them in the freezer.

Instructions:

1. Heat oil and butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Once the oil is super hot and the butter has melted, add the shrimp and a generous sprinkle of salt & pepper, saute for 1 minute. (I did them in two batches for a minute on each side)

2. Remove shrimp from pan and set aside.

3. Then add the garlic, tomatoes, and spinach to the same pan. Saute until the spinach is wilted and most of the liquid is gone.

4. Stir in the heavy cream, parmesan cheese, and basil.  Reduce heat to medium and simmer until sauce is slightly reduced about 2-3 minutes.

5. Return the shrimp to the pan and stir to combine. Taste and adjust salt if needed.

We began the meal with a beautiful and delicious Cindy salad.

This is my dish before adding a square of focaccia bread to the rim.

Then we wrapped the meal up with a Coconut Bunny Cake provided by Beanie/Wende.

The Verdict:

It was delicious and the right amount of sauce for the amount of pasta.  The only negative was the sauce could have been thicker – I think I didn’t cook the spinach dry enough, but it was great when soaked up with Bev's focaccia bread.  I would definitely make it again but making sure the sauce is thick and using bigger shrimp for a better presentation.  We had lots of leftover so I'll scale the recipe back for a pound of pasta.

I'm always amazed at some of the positions our dogs will lay in.  Here's Romeo with his head on a wooden shelf rather than on the pillow.

Photos can be slightly enlarged by clicking on them and the blue words are links.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by Almost Heaven South.

Larry

4/5/25 meal date