sauteed shrimp, garlic, tomatoes, and mushrooms in a romano, parmesan, and herb sauce over a bed of spiral pasta, topped with crispy breaded shrimp

The description above is  copied almost word-for-word from the Marie Callendar's menu. I believe theirs reads "asiago-romano-parmesan" sauce, but I could only buy so much cheese and Papa doesn't like asiago.

Little sis and I went to Marie Callendar's a few nights back. As we ate our complimentary warm corn bread, we considered the menu. Little sis, who's normally the quick-decider of our pair, chewed her lip for a long time after I'd selected my quiche covered in bacon and cheese and my stomach was grumbling the order. "I want the double-shrimp pasta," she said. "But." But, every time she eats it, it disagrees with her.

I reopened my menu and took out a paper and a pen, and scribbled the dish's description down. "Or we could put our magic kitchen powers to work later," I said, "and make it ourselves."

She ordered fish and chips. The night went swimmingly.

A few days later, we held our grand sisterly endeavour to create the delicious dish, which has little sis's name written all over it: shrimp, mushrooms, tomatoes, pasta, a creamy sauce.

An Attempt at Marie Callender's Double Shrimp Pasta

1 large tomato
1 C mushrooms
4 garlic cloves
2 Tb olive oil

1/2 lb raw shrimp, peeled and deveined

2 Tb flour
1 C half n' half
1/2 C grated parmesan cheese
1/2 C grated romano cheese
pepper and salt to taste

1/2 lb raw shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 egg, beaten
1 C bread crumbs
1/4 C flour
1/4 C parmesan cheese
1/4 C romano cheese
1 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp salt
pepper

1/2 lb uncooked spiral pasta (use any kind you like-- this is just the kind they use at Marie's)

Bring a pot of salted water to boil, with a dash of olive oil to keep it from bubbling over. Add the pasta and boil according to the directions on the packaging.

Chop the mushrooms and tomato and mince the garlic. Saute in the 2 Tb olive oil until mushrooms and garlic are golden brown. Add 1/2 lb of the shrimp.



Immediately, add the 2 Tb flour and mix to combine. Stir constantly for 2 minutes, keeping the flour from burning.

Add the half n' half and bring to a simmer. Add the cheese and stir until the cheese melts and the sauce thickens a little. Remove from heat. Salt and pepper to taste.



Meanwhile, beat the two eggs together in a small bowl. In a separate bowl, mix the breadcrumbs, 1/4 C flour, garlic, salt, and pepper. Take out the second half-pound of shrimp. Dip each shrimp in the egg and then in the crumb mixture. Place on a baking sheet and bake at 400 degrees for 5 minutes.

To plate, mix the pasta and sauce together, then top with the crispy shrimp. Serve immediately, before the crispy becomes soggy.