Lite and Creamy Pasta - Generations Magazine - June-July 2013A colorful summer delight. You’ll want to use a nice rigatoni (tube) or farfalle (bowtie) pasta for this recipe. The shape of the pasta is perfect with the creamy sauce and serves as the perfect backdrop for the beautiful greens and pinks of the asparagus and shrimp.

1 lb uncooked pasta
4 oz lite or fat free cream cheese
1 cup chicken stock
Juice of 3 lemons (reserve lemon zest)
1 lb U16-20 shrimp (shelled and deveined)
1 bunch asparagus (woody part discarded)
Salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
Parmesan cheese

Put a large pot of water over high heat and bring to a boil. Add peeled/cleaned shrimp and asparagus and poach for 2-3 minutes or less, until shrimp has just turned pink. Remove from heat and set aside. Prepare pasta according to package directions, drain, reserving 2/3 cup of the cooking liquid. Heat a small sauce pan over medium heat and slowly add the cream cheese to the stock, using a whisk to break up and blend the two ingredients. If the sauce is too thick, add some of the cooking liquid. Once the cream cheese has been incorporated, whisk in the lemon juice.

Slice the asparagus on the diagonal and add to the cream sauce, along with the shrimp. Toss the sauce with the pasta, top with Parmesan and the lemon zest and serve.

Time: 40 minutes | Serves: 4–6


 

Chef Michi founded ‘Cooking Fresh For You’. Her recipes center on healthy and flavor-packed dishes. Visit www.cookingfreshforyou.com or contact via cookingfreshforyou@gmail.com, 808-286-6484. Also, visit her Cooking FRESH locations: 909 Kapahulu Ave. | Queens POB I – 1329 Lusitana St. |
Queens POB II – 550 S. Beretania St. | Lunch Truck – UH Manoa on East West Rd. by Kennedy Theatre.