Cheesy Creamy Tomato Pesto Shrimp & Noodles

I am going to go ahead and put something out there.  I love food.  I always have.  I was the favorite of my friends parents because I never complained about what was on my plate and usually asked for seconds.  

I love to cook and love watching cooking shows.  I had to ease off the cooking shows because they made me hungry and want to eat constantly.  When was I pregnant with my son I would lay in bed all day and watch the Food Network.  About 4 or 5pm I would crawl out of bed and head to the grocery store to feed whatever hankerin' I had from watching people cook all day.  My husband loved it.  I cooked alot and ate a lot.  Although my son was a big baby 9lbs 4 oz.  He certainly did not weigh 80 pounds...which is what I gained during pregnancy.  And yes, in case your wondering, I ate Krispy Kreme by the dozen...nightly.

Now onto the cooking part:

First of all, I am a throw together cook, a hack.   I don't like to measure.  The meals I make are hard to screw up, add a little more of this or a little more of that and you should be good to go.  So all measurements are an "about", a "guesstimate", and "approximization".  Oh, I am also known to forget to add major ingredients, say butter in the pecan pie for instance. I am perfectly capable and able to follow recipes (and do follow them when baking) but when doing regular meals I rarely do. So please bare with me. Second, this is my first post on cooking and my daughter (I stopped looking at the scale after I gained 65 pounds when pregnant with her) likes to be all up in my business when I cook. She likes to "hep". Lastly, I like to use what I have on hand.  You can subsititute things like cream instead of milk, spinach instead of tomatoes...you get the idea. This is your meal!   Oh, DON'T FORGET THE CHEESE!  I forgot to take a picture of it.   It was probably when Sammy thought she needed to stir.  

First up. The Goodies: 

milk:  about a 1/2 cup.    (I used 2%, but this would be heavenly with Heavy Cream.) 

shrimp:  about a pound.  (I used frozen.  After thawing I peeled off the tails)

butter:  2 tablespoons

oil: lightly coat the bottom of the pan

sun dried tomato pesto:  2 tablespoons..ish.  I used the jar kind.  It's so good I eat it with a spoon.  I could have used the entire jar if I thought I could get away with it.

minced garlie:  a heaping spoonful, if you like garlic use a big spoon!  I keep a jar on hand, much easier for cooking, and we use A LOT of garlic in this house

sun dried tomatoes (optional):  I chopped about 6.  My son showed a little resistance on this one but did like it.  Add more or less if you please.  It would also be heavenly to keep them whole and let all those yummy juices soak in.

mozzarella cheese:  1/2 a small brick.  Shredded.

asiago cheese:  about 3-4 palmfuls. Shredded.

Basil:  a small palmful.  I used the freeze dried kind.

 noodles: enough for 4-5 servings.  I used wheat spaghetti-only because it's what we have and I need to use it.  One of my hubbys friends works for a pasta testing company and we always have pasta in the house! 

 Chop up your sun dried tomatoes.  I found these in the same spot as dried fruit in the grocery store.  YUM!

 Throw your butter and oil in a hot pan.

 add your big spoonful of garlic and sautee for just a moment.  Don't burn the garlic!  Stir constantly.

 Now, throw in your shrimp and your heaping spoonfuls of the tomato pesto.  Or, just add the whole dang jar and tell me how delicious it was!  Also add your chopped up sun dried tomatoes now.

 This is heaven.  I do drive by's and eat it this from the jar when no one is looking.  

 This is the reason their are a lot of pictures missing on this post.  Yes, she has marker on her hand, and no shirt on.  Typical.

 Now that everything is coming together and your shrimp are cooked add the milk...or cream...mmmm, cream.  Let everything cook down for just a few minutes (mine was pretty liquid since I used milk).  And then, start adding your cheese.  

DON'T FORGET TO ADD CHEESE NOW!

I used 1/2 the brick of mozzarella.  Add it slowly and stir constantly.  The sauce should start thickening up.  Then start adding your asiago (see the tub above under the garlic-that's what i used).  Let everything cook a bit more stirring contanstly.  You can add more milk or cheese until you like the consistency.  

This is what it looked like after all the cheese was added and the basil.

Then add the noodles.  Mix it around good and let the sauce cook in for a few minutes.

I am not a big fan of whole wheat noodles, but again, what's in the cabinets always win if the other option is dragging the kids the store.

I forgot to take the final picture once it was all mixed up.  

But I took a pic of the most important part...two satisfied customers.  Did I mention my family thinks I am a short order cook?  Some day I want to get one of those ticket racks and a dinger you see in a diner. Order up...DING!

Click on the "I like to party" link to see where it's at!