Cooking tip: Just because a recipe uses conventional ingredients doesn’t mean you are obligated to use them. Granted, substituting ingredients when baking a cake or bread doesn’t work out that well. There is some science-y stuff that happens with the leaveners like yeast and baking soda that can fail when you substitute. But making a down-to-earth pasta dish is a kinder, gentler experience. You can substitute to your heart’s content in this recipe for Creamy Pasta Poblano with Garlic Shrimp.
Creamy Poblano Pasta with Garlic Shrimp is Your Dish
There are so many customizable ways to enjoy food anymore. I grew up when there were not so many choices. There was flour, meat and milk and you pretty much knew what you were going to get. And, there were no questions. That why I really love creating recipes that you can customize for your diet.
Try one of the alternative sour cream products out there, such as fat free or low fat versions, and even pro-biotic sour cream. There is a brand of cultured cottage cheese that would use in this recipe too. The amount substituted would be the same as what is called for in the recipe below. However, the nutritional information would change.
Also, if you are lactose intolerant, you can use tofu or cashew-based yogurt instead of dairy sour cream. And instead of topping with parmesan cheese, you can garnish with roasted ground pumpkin seeds or tree nuts, such as pecans or walnuts. This dish will assemble easily with any of these alternatives.
Substituting is great Way to Learn to Cook
Another alternative for this dish is to serve it hot, cold or room temperature. Simply chill or heat the sauce according to your taste, and boom: it’s a different dish. Sometimes when I am in a hurry, I drain the pasta, and simply toss it with the chilled sauce.
For even further substitutions, you can switch out the shrimp for chicken, steak, fish, or roasted carrots and eggplant. I mean really, this is such a convertible dish you can have it anyway you like it. My choice is to simply have it more often.
Creamy Pasta Poblano with Garlic Shrimp
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 2 minutes
- Total Time: 12 minutes
- Yield: 6–8 servings 1x
- Category: Pasta
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Continental
Ingredients
Sauce:
16oz. sour cream (500g)
1 clove garlic
3 chile poblano, roasted, peeled, seeds removed
½ cup grated parmesan cheese (50g)
Salt and pepper to taste
1 lb. uncooked pasta (500g)
¼ cup olive oil (60ml)
6–8 cloves of garlic, peeled and sliced
1 lb. uncooked shrimp, deveined (500g)
Extra parmesan cheese for garnish
Instructions
To make the sauce, combine the sour cream, 1 clove of garlic, and two of the chile poblano in the container of a blender. Puree until smooth. Stir in the parmesan cheese. Season with salt and pepper.
Prepare the pasta according to the package directions. Drain and cool completely. Chop the remaining roasted chile poblano.
Heat the olive oil in a medium sized skillet. Gently fry the sliced garlic over medium heat, until it is golden, about 2 minutes. Remove the garlic from the pan and add the shrimp. Fry the shrimp for 1 minute on each side, until they are pink and cooked throughout. Set aside briefly while you prepare the rest of the dish.
Toss the cooked pasta with the creamy sour cream sauce, and the remaining chopped chile poblano. Top with the cooked shrimp, and garnish with the fried garlic and cooked shrimp.
Notes
You can also serve a warm version of this dish. Simply heat the sauce in the microwave for 2 minutes on high, and then toss with the pasta and chiles as directed.
Instead of regular sour cream can Mexican Crema be used in this dish?
Hi Patty! Yes, you can use regular sour cream but thin it with a few tablespoons of milk so it will have the same consistency as Mexican crema. Enjoy!