Pasta with zucchini and shrimp

I had made this before, a few years ago. I'm surprised to see that it was in 2015 — it seems more recent. I guess that's because I've never forgotten eating it. Four years ago, I made it with chicken. This time I wanted to have shrimp with the zucchini, cream, Parmesan cheese, garlic, lemon juice and zest, and pasta.

It's really a very simple recipe. What takes the longest is peeling and de-veining the shrimp. But start the cooking process with the zucchini. Cut a fairly large zuke (weighing about a pound — 450 grams) into bite-size pieces. Sauté the pieces in a mixture of butter and olive oil until they just start to brown and go tender. Take the zuke pieces out of the pan and sauté about a dozen "jumbo" shrimp (prawns) in the same pan, with the same oil and butter. When they are just lightly cooked, take them out of the pan too.

Separately, cook enough pasta to serve three or four people and save some of the pasta water. And grate some Parmesan cheese.

Pour 6 or 8 fluid ounces of cream into the pan that the zucchini and shrimp cooked in. Let it cook over medium heat. Meanwhile, peel and press three or four cloves of garlic. Zest a lemon and then cut it in half and juice it. Stir the cream, add salt and pepper, and let it reduce slightly.

Add the crushed garlic to the cream and let it cook for a minute on low heat. Then add in the cooked pasta and the sautéed shrimp and zucchini. Stir in the grated cheese. Finally, mix in the lemon juice and the grated lemon peel (zest). It's ready. The recipe is below.

Pasta, zucchini, and shrimp

with garlic, lemon, cream, and Parmesan cheese

1 lb. pasta, cooked

1 lb. of zucchini cut into bite-size pieces

1 dozen “jumbo” shrimp, peeled and de-veined

1 Tbsp. butter + 1 Tbsp. olive oil

3 or 4 cloves garlic, finely minced or pressed

200 ml heavy cream (crème fraîche)

1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

2 Tbsp. lemon juice

the finely grated zest of 1 lemon

salt and pepper

Cook the pasta following package instructions. Reserve about 2 cups

of the pasta water. Set aside.

In a large pan, heat the butter and oil over medium high heat. Add

the zucchini and saute until tender. Season with salt and pepper.

Take the zucchini out of the pan and put it into a serving dish.

Sauté the shrimp in the same pan until done and lightly browned.

Take the shrimp out of the pan and add it to the zucchini in the

serving dish.

Reduce the heat, add the cream to the cooking juices in the pan, and

cook it until the cream is simmering. Add the garlic and let it cook

for a minute.

Put the shrimp, zucchini, and pasta into the pan and toss

everything in the cream. Add some pasta water to extend the cream

sauce and coat all the ingredients.

Add the parmesan and mix to combine. You might want to add

some more of the reserved pasta water to melt the cheese and thin

the sauce. Finally, add the lemon zest and lemon juice and toss

again. Cook for a minute or two to let all the flavors combine and

heat everything through. Serve. Don't spare the black pepper.