Pork Tenderloin, Shrimp, Pasta, and So Much More:

Would you just look at this dish?!

There's a lot going on in that dish. And if you can believe it, I completely winged it. I had this idea of using both the pork tenderloin in my fridge and the pound of shrimp in my freezer. But who serves up 2lbs of meat for two people? Then we had family over!

I love coming up with new recipes, especially, as I've posted before, one dish meals. And this casserole thingy was most certainly new, and most certainly a one dish meal. It was probably 95849067 calories (thank you cheddar), but my God was it tasty.

 Now, I made this the night I learned Todd and I were going to be uncle and aunt to Scott and Amery's little 4 week old bundle of joy(!!!!!), so I was too busy flapping my hands in the air and talking babies to Amery to take any photos of food prep. Plus I wasn't entirely sure how this meal would turn out.

But now I've just got to share it, because it's somewhat unusual, but utterly delicious. It had sort of a South American exotic feel to it, thanks to the sweet potato, cumin, cayenne, cinnamon and nutmeg. I just have no idea how to classify it, or what to call it, and I made it on Friday and am a little fuzzy on measurements, so bear with me.

Pork and Shrimp Pasta Casserole Thingy
Serves 4


-10oz penne pasta
-6oz Trader Joe's sweet potato spears (they come packaged)
-1/2 red or yellow bell pepper
-1 head broccoli
-1 small red onion
-2 tbsp minced garlic
-2 tbsp olive oil
-1lb pork tenderloin
-1lb raw, peeled shrimp
-Heavy-handed dashes of cumin
-Tiny dashes cayenne pepper
-Tiny dashes cinnamon
-Tiny dashes nutmeg
-A few big handfuls of shredded cheddar

Ok, I think that's it. the most important parts are there. Set your oven to between 375 and 400 and cook your pasta. In the meantime, cut up all your veggies into bite size pieces (except the potato spears) and toss together in a big bowl with the minced garlic and olive oil. Oh hey, the penne should be done! Drain and set aside.

Now, cut up your pork and toss that, and then the shrimp, into the bowl with the veggies and toss around until evenly mixed. Add your cooked pasta and toss around some more.

Dump all that into the biggest pyrex you can find. You'll need a big one. If you don't have one, I think a big cookie sheet would work.
Now add your spices, and then top with all that divine cheddar cheese. Throw in the oven for about 30 minutes. Check a big piece of the pork to see if its done and then presto, serve up with some sriracha. Scott was so enamored he basically painted his entire dish red. Amery bought him a bottle the very next day.

Oh, and here are the proud parents to be!

Scott used to have a mustache. True story!