Shrimp, Mushroom, and Artichoke Pasta

I made this for dinner on a Saturday night. It was pretty good and the kids loved it, although Brad and I found it a little bland (it could've used more cayenne pepper) and the sauce was a little thick.

Shrimp, Mushroom, and Artichoke Pasta
8 oz fettuccine or linguine
10 tbsp butter, divided
4 oz fresh, sliced mushrooms
1 jar artichoke hearts, drained and cut up
2 garlic cloves, minced
4 oz cream cheese, cut into small pieces
1 tbsp fresh basil, chopped
2/3 cup boiling water (from your noodle pot)
1 lb peeled shrimp
cajun seasoning
cayenne pepper

Boil and salt a large pot of water and cook your pasta. While your pasta is cooking, season the shrimp with cajun seasoning and cook in olive oil in a large skillet. Remove and keep warm. In the same skillet melt 2 tbsp of butter over medium heat and saute mushrooms until soft and brown. Season with salt and pepper. Add artichoke hearts and heat through. Remove mushrooms and artichoke hearts and keep warm with the shrimp. Melt remaining butter in the skillet. Add minced garlic, cream cheese, and herbs. At this point, it will look like something has gone terribly wrong. The cream cheese doesn’t really melt and starts to look almost curdled. It will all smooth out and be wonderful when you add the water. Simmer cream cheese mixture until well blended. Get a scoop of boiling pasta water from the noodle pot and mix it in, stirring quickly to smooth out the sauce. Add a little more cayenne pepper (I didn't put enough because I was worried it would be too hot for the kids, but it really needed more.) Save a little more pasta water in case the sauce is too thick later on. Keep sauce hot and add shrimp mixture, mix well and simmer (stirring often) until everything is hot and thickened. Toss sauce with cooked noodles and serve. Add more pasta water if the sauce gets too thick.

Adapted from CHAOS IN THE KITCHEN

Family Rating:
Brad: ****
Jordan: ***
Eli: *****
Phoebe: *****
Overall Family Rating: 17/20