Low Carb Shrimp Parmesan
Despite its name, this recipe is anything but light. It’s rich, buttery, and has a deep garlicky and spicy flavor.
It is low-carb but not low-fat 🙂 It was born out of a tuscan region in Italy where the farmers were close to the sea which allowed them the freshest seafood imaginable. Just kidding. It was born out of me riffling through the vegetable drawer and the freezer. This was also intended to feed only one person, but there were so many veggies it could have fed two, I didn’t end up finishing all of it.
Ingredients:
2 zucchini
2 carrots
4 tbs olive oil
2 tbs minced garlic
salt and pepper to taste
2 tsp red chili flake (more is optional)
1 portion of shrimp (3-4 extra large/jumbo)
3 tbs butter
1/2 – 3/4 cup parmesan cheese (good quality-not sawdust)
Bread (optional) for dipping
Method:
I have a spiralizer, you can also make this with just pasta noodles, but I needed to watch the old blood sugar today, so I went lower carb. Plus these veggies desperately needed to be eaten. I spiraled my veggies according to my appliance’s requirements, set a pot of water to boil with 2 tbs of salt. Once boiling I boiled the spiraled veggies for about 2-3 minutes and set to drain immediately. If you use pasta, prepare to your liking or according to the box’s directions. For pasta, see below. (Save a 1/4 cup of that pasta water!)
In a pan, preferably non-stick if you can, add 3-4 tbs of olive oil, your garlic and chili flake. I also added my salt and pepper here, allow the garlic to infuse with the oil over medium-medium high heat, just before your garlic looks like it’s going to get brown add back in your spiraled veggies. Allow it all to mingle and sauté for a moment and add in your butter! Allow this to sauté for about 5-8 minutes. The goal is to cook out some of that water and even allow your veggies to brown up a bit. Once you’re satisfied with the color, add your luscious shrimp. Make sure they are thawed.
Once the shrimp have begun to curl and turn their signature light pink/white color (indicating they are about done) remove the pan from the heat and add in your parmesan cheese. Mix slightly until melted. Plate immediately and serve with a little extra cheese on top and a liberal sprinkle of flake sea salt and cracked black pepper! Serve with toasted bread for dipping as the oil will pull away and be in the bottom of the plate.
PASTA:
If you’ve used pasta, sauté your garlic and pepper flake as above (hold the butter!), just as it’s beginning to brown add in your shrimp. Just as the shrimp is finishing add back in your pasta and mix lightly. Turn down the heat to medium/medium low, add in the parmesan cheese and allow to melt, as it’s melting add in your butter and continually mix until combined. If it’s too thick add some pasta water! In-fact, add some pasta water for good measure as it’ll increase the creaminess of the dish. You’re welcome 😉
