Author Notes
The evolution of this sauce: We often have lemon chicken served with fettucini alfredo, and my fiance likes to mix the two together to make a lemon cream sauce pasta. The other night when he requested it, I had the basil recipe contest on my mind, and thinking how well lemon and basil go together, I set off to make a lemon basil cream sauce. At the grocery store, while picking out lemons, I spotted some leeks and thought "lemon and basil go well, and lemon and leek go well, I wonder what the three would be like to mix all three together" so I decided to make a lemon, leek, and basil sauce to go over chicken and pasta. While cooking and tasting the sauce, I decided it would be even better with seafood, so I made a quick decision to switch proteins. We decided it would be great with peas for a veggie and a crumbled bacon garnish for a bit of saltiness. I'm listing the sauce and pasta seperately here because while I used it in a pasta, I think the sauce would also be good spooned over fish, shrimp, or chicken. —shangrilarcadia
Ingredients
- Lemon, Leek, and Basil Sauce
-
1/2 cup
butter
-
4
medium leeks -halved and thinly sliced (only the white and pale green parts)
-
2
lemons - juiced
-
2 cups
cream
-
1/2 cup
fresh basil - chopped
- Shrimp, Lemon, Leek, and Basil Pasta
-
16 ounces
pasta of your choice
-
Lemon, Leek, and Basil sauce, prepared as above
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20-30
shrimp
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1 tablespoon
lemon pepper seasoning
-
salt and pepper to taste
-
4-6
bamboo skewers, soaked in water
-
1/2 cup
peas
-
4-6
pieces of bacon, cooked and crumbled
Directions
- Lemon, Leek, and Basil Sauce
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Melt 2 tablespoons butter in heavy large saucepan over medium heat.
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Add leeks; cover and cook until leeks are very tender, stirring occasionally (10-15 minutes).
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Add lemon juice and stir for a minute.
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Add cream and simmer until thick enough to coat the back of a spoon (about 10 minutes).
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Salt and pepper to taste. Stir in basil just before serving.
- Shrimp, Lemon, Leek, and Basil Pasta
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Preheat grill to 400 degrees. Begin heating salted water for pasta.
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Place 5 shrimp on each skewer and season with lemon pepper seasoning and salt and pepper as desired.
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Prepare sauce as listed above. When it reaches the cream stage, add pasta to water and cook until al dente.
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Also while sauce is thickening, boil peas in a small pot until cooked through. Drain and set aside.
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Grill shrimp skewers for 3 minutes per side.
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Toss pasta and peas with sauce. Top with shrimp and garnish with crumbled bacon.
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