Macaroni Grill Shrimp Pignoli Pasta Recipe

ingredients

24 jumbo shrimp, peeled and deveined
3 cups sliced mushrooms, washed and sliced, 1/4 inch thick
1 1/2 tablespoon roasted pine nuts
6 handfuls fresh spinach leaves
6 cups cooked vermicelli pasta
4 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons fresh garlic, minced

Lemon Butter Sauce:
1 tablespoon shallots, minced
1 tablespoon fresh garlic minced
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup lemon juice, freshly squeezed
1/8 teaspoon white pepper
1 pound lightly salted butter, cut into, tablespoons

directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Wash spinach and remove stems before drying leaves between paper towels. Set aside. Spread pine nuts over bottom of sheet pan and place pan in oven on top rack. Roast until golden brown, approximately 2 to 4 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside. Peel and devein shrimp. Set aside.

Wash and slice fresh mushrooms. Set aside. Boil pasta in large pot of water to al dente stage according to directions on package. Set Aside.

Prepare lemon butter sauce: Melt 1 tablespoon butter in large skillet over medium-high heat. Saute shallots and garlic until translucent. Add white wine and reduce slightly more than half, whisking occasionally. Add cream and reduce by half. Add lemon juice and reduce by half. Add white pepper. Reduce heat to low. Add remaining butter 2 tablespoons at a time, whisking continuously after each addition to completely incorporate butter. Continue to simmer, whisking until sauce just coats spoon.

In large skillet over medium-high heat melt the 4 tablespoons of butter. Add garlic and saute until garlic is translucent. Stir in mushrooms, shrimp, and pine nuts. Saute several minutes or until shrimp are done and show color. Remove skillet from heat and gently stir in spinach. Place warm pasta on plate with shrimp mixture to the side. Pour lemon sauce over pasta, permitting a bit of sauce onto shrimp.

nutrition data

1804 calories, 129 grams fat, 135 grams carbohydrates, 28 grams protein per serving.

reviews & comments

cjh REVIEW:
December 26, 2019

This was awesome, doubled everything except for the butter and turned out great. Used shrimp and also on some roasted salmon. For me the sauce took forever to make though and would make that in advance if do again.
lori November 14, 2014

does it REALLY CALL FOR A POUND OF BUTTER?????? FOR JUST 4 SERVINGS?
- CDKitchen Reply:
  
  It does call for a full pound. You'll notice from some of the other reviews that some cut that amount in half and have decent results. Restaurants typically use a ton of butter in recipes - more than you probably realize! That said, I'd probably personally cut the amount down as well when making this recipe.
missy REVIEW:
September 29, 2006

I used 1/3 less lemon juice and about 1/2 the amount of butter listed and the dish was great! It is one of my favorites!
rolarase REVIEW:
April 27, 2005

Wonderful recipe! I did adapt it some by cutting the amount of butter by half and adding 1 Tbs. olive oil to the sauce. I can't compare it to the original Macaroni Grill recipe; all I can say is that every plate was practically licked clean.
jdw32 REVIEW:
November 16, 2004

After working at Macaroni Grill for 2 years, I can say that this is an original recipe of the restaurant. The lemon butter sauce is the actual Macaroni Grill recipe.

13 Ways To Use Frozen Spinach (and love it!)

It may look like a sad little package shoved in the back of your freezer, but frozen spinach actually has a lot of culinary uses (and some may surprise you).

Orange you glad you tried these recipes?

11 Recipes Using Frozen Orange Juice (that aren't all drinks)

Keeping a can of frozen orange juice concentrate in the freezer means you can make more than just orange juice. Try it in a variety of orange-flavored recipes.