Peppered Shrimp Alfredo

After nearly 3 weeks and only making 1 real meal for Rick I decided last night I was ready to take a baby step to getting back on track. I decided to cook dinner. I did this as much for Rick as I did for myself, because everyone who knows me knows... I LOVE FOOD.

I made peppered shrimp alfredo from allrecipes.com. It wasn't necessarily the healthiest meal. But I did make some modifications that probably helped some (I didn't use butter, but sauteed veggies in EVOO, and used half and half instead of cream, also used whole wheat pasta). In addition to those healthy changes I also left out the mushrooms because ours went bad and used frozen shrimp that was already seasoned--just pop those suckers in the oven and add to pasta when everything is done. Lastly DO NOT use the amount of cayenne pepper in the recipe! It is waaaaaay too much. Trust me on this. I like spicy food a lot, and I knew going into it that 1 tsp of cayenne pepper was absurd. I used a little less than half and it was still pretty spicy. We enjoyed it like that, but I'd highly suggest erring on the side of caution and using less.

Ingredients

• 8 ounces penne pasta
• 1/4 cup butter
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 1/2 pound portobello mushrooms, diced
• 1 pound medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 1 (16 ounce) jar Alfredo sauce
• 1/2 cup grated Romano cheese
• 1/2 cup cream
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or more to taste
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1/4 cup chopped parsley

Directions

1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain.
2. Meanwhile, melt butter together with the olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir in onion, and cook until softened and translucent, about 2 minutes. Stir in garlic, red pepper, and mushroom; cook over medium-high heat until soft, about 2 minutes more.
3. Stir in the shrimp, and cook until firm and pink, then pour in Alfredo sauce, Romano cheese, and cream; bring to a simmer stirring constantly until thickened, about 5 minutes. Season with cayenne, salt, and pepper to taste. Stir drained pasta into the sauce, and serve sprinkled with chopped parsley.

Nutritional Information (according to actual recipe)
Amount Per Serving Calories: 981 | Total Fat: 68.9g | Cholesterol: 305mg