Goat Cheese & Shrimp Pasta

If you've been following my blog lately, you know how I feel about using up the food we have on hand.  Since we didn't do a grocery store trip this past weekend, things are getting a little sparse here in the cottage home.  Last night I knew I needed to use up the package of crumbled goat cheese that had been sitting in our fridge so alas a new excuse to develop another recipe!  The recipe turned out mighty tasty, if you like goat cheese, that is.  Give it a try and let me know what you think!

Goat Cheese & Shrimp Pasta

Ingredients:

1 small red onion, thinly sliced

2 tablespoons butter

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

1 box frozen leaf spinach, thawed and drained

4 oz. crumbled goat cheese

1/2 cup parmesan cheese

1 tablespoon minced fresh garlic

1/2 pound medium shrimp

1 lb. linguine pasta

1 teaspoon salt

black pepper, to taste

Directions:

Cook pasta according to package directions.

Meanwhile, saute onions in olive oil and 1 tablespoon of butter on medium-low heat until softened.  Add garlic and saute for 3-5 minutes until softened, but not browned.  Add shrimp and saute until cooked.  Add drained spinach, salt and pepper - saute for 5 minutes.  Add 1 cup of pasta cooking water to shrimp, spinach and onion mixture, then stir in goat cheese, parmesan and remaining tablespoon of butter.  Cook until slightly thickened.  Add pasta to saute pan with shrimp, onion and spinach mixture and cook for 2-3 minutes.  Plate pasta, sprinkle top with parmesan and serve.  Enjoy!

Cottage Mama's Note:

*I typically season things with salt and pepper as I go (and I LOVE fresh black pepper), so my measurements on salt and pepper may not be exact.  Taste as you go to make sure the seasoning is to your liking.

**When draining pasta, do not rinse.  You want to the pasta to absorb some of the flavors from the sauce and rinsing will not allow it to do so.

***If you have a fresh lemon on hand, a nice squeeze of lemon juice onto the finished pasta would add a really nice flare to this dish (though I did not have one last night).