Betsy Cat's Shrimp Pasta

How we make it.

8 tablespoons butter, gently melted
4 cloves garlic, grated
1 lemon, zest and juice
1 1/2 pounds shrimp, peeled and deveined 
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 cup Parmigiano Reggiano, grated
3 tablespoons cream
2 tablespoons parsley, chopped
1 pound linguine, cooked per package instructions in boiling salted water

First, season your shrimp with salt and pepper. Chop the butter into pieces so that it will melt gently, then add to a large pan or braiser over very low heat. Stir the butter as it melts, never letting it sizzle or brown. Add garlic and lemon zest, gently warming for about 1 minute. Add shrimp, keeping the heat super low. You're almost suggesting they cook more than cooking them. It's a nice gradual butter bath. Stir shrimp continuously until lightly pink, probably 5 or 6 minutes. Cook pasta in a large pot with 12 cups of boiling water seasoned with 3 tablespoons of kosher salt. Once al dente, add pasta to the shrimp pan. Pour over cream, lemon juice and Parmesan, stirring to combine. Serve warm or room temperature.

Why we make it.

I have a little girl with kitten fangs and a rosebud mouth, round green eyes and a little bunny nose. Pasta is the way to her heart. It's got to have lemon, butter and Parmesan. If things are really special, it'll have shrimp. I make this pasta to see her eat it while she's seven. She'll swirl long strands of linguine around her fork, slurping oodles of noodles through the hole where her two front teeth used to be. I'll watch in wonder as she plows through a half-pound bowl, purring and licking her paws, discarding shrimp tails in a little dish to her left. I'll picture her with a bell around her neck. I always do. Gently warmed in a butter bath perfumed with lemon and garlic, crowned with cream and sprinkled with cheese, this shrimp pasta is my girl's definitive favorite. I have few greater joys than to watch her eat it. That's why I make it.