Saturday, February 14, 2009

Bistro Shrimp Pasta

Impress your spouse with this copycat recipe from the Cheesecake Factory. About a year ago, Sharon and I were trying to figure out how to make one of the best recipes at the Cheesecake Factory, Bistro Shrimp Pasta. Well, I figured it out, with little help from the internet because I have not found a copycat recipe to date. This recipe is the closest I have found to the original dish. I can't seem to get the shrimp breading right, but everything else is spot on.

'Parts' List
Battered and fried rock shrimp (optional, see note below)
Sauteed mushrooms quarters
Chopped tomatoes, seeded
Arugula
Cooked Spaghettini
Lemon Basil Cream Sauce

Step 1:
Quarter the mushrooms
Chop tomatoes into small cubes
Saute mushrooms in a bit of olive oil. When almost cooked, add tomatoes to heat through.
Set aside and keep warm.

Step 2:
Cook the shrimp

The Shrimp:

Rock Shrimp (as much or as little as you'd like - calculate per person)
Eggs, scrambled
Corn Starch or flour (mix with the bread crumbs)
Bread crumbs, seasoned
Butter for frying
Oil for frying

Take the shrimp and coat with egg mixture, then dip into the bread crumb and corn starch mixture. Fry in a butter/oil mix for just a few minutes until done. Set aside and keep warm with paper towels on a dish (try not to cover completely or they will turn into a soggy mess).

If you will notice, there are no quantities here. That's because I simply can't get the shrimp exactly like the Cheesecake Factory. I am still trying to figure this out.

I have used regular shrimp before and it turns out similar, but not the same. Play around with the shrimp. This part of the recipe is a 'wild card'.

Step 3:
Cook the pasta and make the sauce at the same time. (note: DO NOT add sauce to the pasta until ready to serve. The pasta will soak up all the sauce if it sits and the pasta will be fairly dry).

Bring a large pot of water to a boil.
Add salt - this is your only opportunity to season your pasta.
Add 1lb. of spaghettini
Cook until done.

Lemon Basil Cream Sauce (double the sauce recipe if you'd like):
2 TB. butter
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup half and half
1 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup lemon juice
2 TB. corn starch
1/2 tsp. pepper
3 TB. chopped fresh basil

*Melt butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat; add garlic, and saute 1-2 minutes.
*Add half and half and chicken broth.
*Bring to a boil, and cook about 8 minutes or until reduced by half.
*Whisk together lemon juice and cornstarch until smooth in a bowl.
*Whisk lemon juice and 1/2 tsp. pepper into butter mixture and cook, whisking constantly, 2 minutes or until thickened.
*Remove from heat.
*DO NOT add basil until ready to serve.

Step 4: Put it together
In each bowl/dish add pasta, sauce, some of the mushroom/tomato mixture, some fresh arugula (let the heat of the pasta and sauce wilt the arugula) and toss until combined. Add shrimp and toss lightly. Top will a sprinkling of basil and grate some fresh Parmesan cheese on top of the dish and serve.

The quantities of the final product are a bit ambiguous for a reason. You can add as much or as little as you'd like. Copy the Cheesecake Factory if you have ordered this dish before. If not, you have nothing to compare it with, so get creative and make it to your specific taste.

Note: You do not have to batter and fry the shrimp - sometimes I don't so I can save some time. Frying the shrimp is the longest step in the process, and a hassle. I simply add some cooked shrimp to the final product. You can also substitute chicken cubes if you'd like.

This recipe looks quite intimidating. As noted above, frying the shrimp is the longest step in this recipe. If you omit this step, the recipe is quite short and easy. The sauce is amazing and can be used in a variety of ways.

Happy Cooking!

18 comments:

Annie said...

Do you know, I have been to CF, but never ordered Bistro Shrimp Pasta. Hmmmm....

Unknown said...

thanks for this. unbelievably hard to find a recipe for this on the net! I think a little less lemon juice and more of the other ingredients for the sauce would be the only changes I would make. Thanks again!

Xavier

Anonymous said...

I just wanted to say I tried this recipe and was very pleased with the outcome. The only change I made was how I coated the shrimp. I purchased a box of Kentucky Kernel Seasoned Flour and used that and I was pleased with the outcome. The only place I've found to buy it is Kroger and it's $1.70 per box. I still coated the shrimp in egg before coating and the coating tasted very similar to Cheesecake Factories version.

Patience said...

Thanks for figuring this out! I'm trying it tonight :)

shereebaby said...

All I do for the shrimp is dust cooked shrimp with flour & about a TBS. of crushed red pepper flakes. Saute till slightly crispy in a couple TBs. of real butter, med heat.Yum!

Anonymous said...

We live in Brasil and every trip to US we need to eat this pasta. I did it here following our hints and made a little adjustments. But I was PERFECT !!!!
Thanks a lot for sharing !!

Mariluz

Anonymous said...

I just had the Bistro Shrimp yesterday and the consistency of the shrimp's coating had a crispy cheese feel to it. I think there is a very light-flavored romano or parm cheese that is what makes that wonderful coating. I haven't tried it but if someone out there is experimenting- try that and post if it was correect. Thanks!

Anonymous said...

For the shrimp coating I mix Panko breadcrumbs and fresh grated parm cheese, then lightly fry. It's perfect.

Lisbela A Lopez said...

Thank u! I soo loved this dish at CF and now I'm ready to try it w ur recipe!

Anonymous said...

THANK YOU!!! A friend of mine took me to CF and she ordered the dish (only due to a sensitive stomach, she couldn't eat shrimp, so CF substituted chicken and also tossed it with angel hair pasta and less tomato for her). Wow!! It was so delicious, I had to find a way to make it. Attempted to search the internet and voila!, there you are with the recipe. Thanks so much!

Anonymous said...

I'll like to mention that this dish at the Cheesecake factory has 2800 calories (1.4x recommended daily intake) and 77g of saturated fat (4x recommended daily intake).

Anonymous said...

I am so glad I found this recipe as I loved the food at the CF when I tried it firt time.


Many Thanks from Seattle

Anonymous said...

Very Good. I didn't have the 1/2 1/2 so I uesed a 1/4 sour cream and 1/4 cup water. I used lime juice mixed with water as not to be too tart.

the shrimp i did was PERFECT just like CF. Dip the shimp into Cornstarch 1st then the egg then bread crumbs. Fry it in HOT olive oil for just a few min each side. Make sure you have just a light layer of oil and toss it as you are frying it. SOO yummy.. Saved me 15.99 per plate plus tip and tax.

Anonymous said...

umm where is the peas,panchetta their is no arugula either this is all wrong!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Carol said...

I've never had peas or panchetta in the Bistro Shrimp Pasta from the Cheesecake Factory. And yes, there is arugula in it - check the menu.

I appreciate the comment!

Anonymous said...

I just left the Cheese Cake Factory with my wife and children and told them all, "I have to figure out how to make this Bistro Shrimp Pasta dish". Well, here is the receipe and I'm on for trying it this week. Thanks!

Anonymous said...

I had it at CF and its delicious! top of their list.

Anonymous said...

This is my favorite dish from Cheesecake Factory. Thank you for posting this recipe. I just made it and it was delicious!!! The only thing I did differently was the breading for the shrimp. I used Panko-Japanese breadcrumbs. You did such a great job figuring out this recipe. I also would use less heat for the sauce because it ended up getting too thick. It took really long to cook, but it was so worth it!! Thanks once again