This is a quick and OH SO delicious recipe! I was very surprised at how great this turned out the first time I made it, and I’ve had great compliments from my husband and guests each time I’ve made it since. I think the reason why I had such low expectations is because it is from Kraft Foods’ website (my cousin had emailed it to me) and I had never tried a recipe from there website, mostly because they usually seem a bit TOO easy (”take some cooked chicken, add some salsa and put it in a tortilla…wow)! Also, I never thought that cooking with a salad dressing would be a great idea (wouldn’t it just come out tasting exactly like the salad dressing? That doesn’t sound all that exciting to me!), but like I said I can’t believe how great this turned out! I’ll admit it, Kraft proved me wrong! I think I always forget how good it is…each time I make it I’m actually surprised that it tastes so great. I tweaked the recipe a bit because I usually use precooked frozen shrimp and the original recipe calls for uncooked shrimp. You can check out the original recipe on Kraft Foods’ website if you like, but here’s how I do it:

• 8 oz. linguine
• 3/4 c. prepared Italian dressing & recipe mix
• 2 c sliced fresh mushrooms
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 1 can (14 oz) artichoke hearts, drained & quartered
• 1 lb frozen large shrimp, defrosted
• 1 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
• 1/3 c grated parmesan cheese

1. If you haven’t already defrosted your shrimp overnight in the fridge (I usually forget to do that!), defrost them under cold running water. This should only take a few minutes. This technically is a no no, they always tell you not to do it on the shrimp package, but whatever, I’m over it…still tastes fine to me!
2. If using dry pasta, cook pasta as directed on package, then start the rest of the process. If using refrigerated pasta (see recommendations, below), wait until step 5 (but start the water boiling right now).
3. If you haven’t already done this, prepare salad dressing according to package directions.
4. Heat a little bit of oil (olive oil if you have it) in a large pot on medium heat. Stir in mushrooms and onions & cook until tender.
5. If using refrigerated pasta, start cooking that now (according to package directions).
6. Add 1/2 cup of the dressing and artichokes, shrimp and parsley. Cook briefly until shrimp is heated through.
7. Drain pasta, add to shrimp mixture along with 1/4 cup dressing. Toss lightly. Mix cheese in.

Recommendations:

• Pasta: I definitely recommend using refrigerated pasta for this (see my post).
• Onion: The original recipe called for one small onion thinly sliced, but my husband thinks he hates onions, so I always have to use smaller amounts than recipes call for and try to hide them by chopping them fairly small instead of slicing them. If you don’t mind onions (I personally love cooked onions), definitely put the whole amount in. And if you THINK you hate onions, still DO NOT leave them out…they provide so much flavor and sweetness to this dish!
• Dressing: Make sure you use the dry dressing mix that comes in a packet (still in the same isle as the normal dressings)…I do NOT recommend using the normal bottled italian dressing. They have a completely different taste from each other, you definitely want to use the dry one in the packet. Also, the original recipe calls for the zesty italian dressing, I don’t really think it makes much of a difference.

Bookmark to: