fresh linguine with lemon garlic shrimp and shaved manchego

 this may sound like a fancy dish, but its actually really easy to make and the sauce is very versatile.  you can easily make simple substitutions and the shrimp are not necessary, however i like shrimp and they go nicely with the sauce. i have made fresh pasta many many times but i found a wonderful recipe on another web page, that explains all the how tos very clearly and gives some great tips. the page is simplebites.net written by kristen doyle and is title perfecting pasta. if you have never made fresh pasta before, this is a must read and even if you have, you'll probably find some great tips. 

1/2 lb Cooked fresh linguine
4 tbsp Butter
Lemon zest from whole lemon
Lemon juice from whole lemon
1 tbsp Minced Garlic
1 cup White wine
2 tsp fresh Oregano
1 tbsp fresh Parsley
Pepper
Salt
12 extra large shrimp with shells
Shaved manchego


in pan over medium heat melt butter. then add lemon zest and garlic until fragrant, do NOT brown garlic.add the cup of white wine and turn heat up to high to simmer. i choose a sauvignon blanc but a pinot grigio would work nicely. when sauce reduces slightly you may add the fresh lemon juice, oregano, parsley, salt and pepper. continue to simmer and add extra large shrimp with shells and cook until pink. i leave the shells on because they add flavor to the sauce. when shrimp are fully cooked remove them from the sauce and add pasta to the sauce pan. at this point you may remove shrimp shells if you please, but i served them on. cooking pasta in the sauce pan will help the pasta soak up some of the sauce and evenly coat it. you can now plate the pasta and sauce and leave the pan empty.  add shrimp back to your pan and warm over high heat, then add the shrimp to your pasta dish. top with shaved manchego and  serve with lemon wedges.

now i know some may think the oregano or manchego are not necessary but they work very nicely together without over powering the lemon or shrimp. i suppose a parmesan would work but the manchego has a milder flavor and that is why i choose it. this is a very easy sauce recipe that can work without an added protein, but i think chicken or scallops would work very well with this as well. enjoy the recipe and let me know how it works out for you guys.