Food You Can Eat: Shrimp in Cream Sauce

This recipe was intended to be the once-a-week “health and calories be damned” splurge, and was…okay, but see the notes below for improvements.

Ingredients

• 2 pounds large shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 2 tablespoons melted butter
• 1/3 cup flour
• 1 and 1/2 cups vegetable or chicken broth
• 4 large cloves garlic, minced
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1/2 cup minced parsley
• 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Hot cooked rice, noodles, or pasta

Preparation

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
• In a small saucepan, make the roux – melt the butter and flour until smooth.
• Stir in the broth and garlic.
• Bring to a boil and stir frequently until thickened.
• Remove from heat and stir in the cream, parsley, smoked paprika, and salt and pepper. Set aside.
• Butterfly the shrimp and arrange in a greased 9”x13” baking pan. Pour the sauce over the shrimp. Bake for 20 minutes, and serve over rice, noodles, whatever.

Notes

• The roux/liquid/spice mixture was oddly bland. I’d add cracked red pepper, double the garlic, maybe even some chili and cumin – it needed more spice.
• I served it over a mild jasmine rice…were I to make it again, I might prefer orzo, wheat pasta, or a black whole-grain rice; anything to add more texture.