My husband went away for an over-night trip with friends and dropped one of my boys off at his Meme’s house on the way. Boy, did my house seem eerily quite! I don’t know if any other moms can relate but don’t things seem so weird even if just one child is gone? Sheesh it was like I was on a vacation from my life or something! So naturally, I decided it would be a great time to cook a spectacular meal seeing I was dealing with a 1 year old who could obviously care less, and a 7 year old who was convinced I was trying to hide copious amounts of broccoli in his food (it was parsley!!) Off to Wegman’s I went to purchase the biggest, most beautiful wild caught shrimp I could find. I came home and slathered those babies with a creamy sauce, cheese, and generous amounts of Cajun seasoning and boy did I ever feel bad that the rest of my family was gone when I sat down to eat this meal!
I mentioned that naturally the baby would care less about this pasta. How wrong did he prove me when he was begging and begging for more! Not only did he beg for more, he continued to climb into his high chair over and over until I fed him more pasta. Then when he was done with that he grabbed his brother’s plate off the table and proceeded to park his little tushy on the floor and have a little feast by himself! How could I really be mad at that cute little face covered in sauce though? 🙂 Plus, he was eating broccoli so that made Mama happy!
For the noodles in this dish I used whole wheat lasagna sheets and cut them in half (they were really narrow to begin with). I have been looking for whole wheat lasagna sheets for the longest time and was finally able to find some! Funny how a product that is so widely used is so hard to find in whole wheat. Regardless, you can use any pasta you’d like for this dish because the pasta doesn’t really make the dish. I did enjoy a different type of noodle in this but if you want to switch it up a whole wheat rigatoni or penne would work fantastic! I used 8 ounces of pasta total.
Here are the Steps I Took to Cook this Meal:
- Cook the Pasta: I used 8 ounces of lasagna noodles, you can use any kind of pasta you’d like!
- Season and Roast Broccoli: Sprinkle broccoli generously with Cajun seasoning and roast in the oven for about 25 minutes while you are cooking your other ingredients.
- Boil the shrimp: Self explanatory! After you boil the shrimp peel them if needed.
- Make the sauce.
- Layer in skillet.
- Bake.
- Be Amazed at How Delicious it Was! Ok this is bordering on being a gimmicky catch phrase food bloggers use, but seriously it is really good!
The quicker way to do this would be to boil the pasta, and within the last few minutes throw in the shrimp and broccoli. I prefer oven roasted broccoli so that is why I didn’t do that, but if you are looking to save time this would be the way to do it!
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Cajun Shrimp and Broccoli Pasta
By Published: August 10, 2014
- Yield: 4 Servings
- Prep: 35 mins
- Cook: 10 mins
- Ready In: 45 mins
Oven roasted broccoli and big, beautiful shrimp make this a restaurant quality meal right in your home
Ingredients
- 8 ounces whole wheat pasta
- 1/2 pound shrimp You can add more if you can afford to 🙂
- 1 head broccoli
- 1 clove garlic
- 3 Tbsp butter
- 3 Tbsp flour I used whole wheat white
- 3 cups milk I used whole milk
- 1/4 tsp pink himalayan or kosher salt
- black pepper to taste
- cajun seasoning to taste
- 6 slices mozzarella cheese
- 3/4 cup freshly grated asiago cheese you could also substitue parmesan
Instructions
- As I mentioned, this recipe calls for cooking ingredients separately then combining them at the end to bake. First, chop broccoli and toss with a generous amount of Cajun seasoning and olive oil. Throw on a sheet tray and bake at 375 degrees for about 25 minutes. If you use frozen broccoli your bake time will increase!
- While broccoli is baking cook pasta according to directions and boil shrimp. Peel shrimp, season generously with Cajun seasoning (mine were coated completely) and set aside.
- To make sauce finely chop garlic and throw in sauté pan with butter. Melt over medium heat and cook until garlic is fragrant and tender. Add flour and whisk into a thick paste. Slowly add milk little by little, allowing mixture to thicken each time before adding more milk. If your mixture is not thickening up give it some heat. When all milk is combined season with salt and black pepper.
- When all ingredients are ready, put half of your pasta in a large sauté pan and cover with half of your sauce (I poured sauce into a spouted measuring cup for easy pouring). Top pasta with layer of broccoli, 3 slices of mozzarella and half of the asiago cheese. Repeat to create a second layer, then top with shrimp. Bake in oven at 375 for about 10 minutes or until cheese is just melted.
looks seriously delicious and so creamy.. definitely inspired to give the recipe a go!