Shrimp Portofino recipe is an answer for Kat

Recipes that appear in Idea Alley have not been tested by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

Late last year, Rosemary Boggs requested a recipe for Shrimp Portofino like that served at Romano’s Macaroni Grill.

Heidi Orris answers the call.

I imagine there will be more requests for Macaroni Grill favorites in the coming weeks now that Arkansas’ only location has closed.

Restaurant recipes are notoriously difficult — often impossible — to obtain, but it never hurts to ask.

The recipe is from geniuskitchen.com

Shrimp Portofino Like Romano’s Macaroni Grill

3 tablespoons olive oil 2 tablespoons finely chopped

garlic or to taste

1 cup sliced white mushrooms 20 large shrimp, de-veined

and tails removed 2 teaspoons salt

1 ½ teaspoons black pepper 4 cups fresh baby spinach

leaves

½ cup freshly squeezed lemon

juice ½ cup white wine

3 cups heavy cream

1 pound angel-hair pasta, cooked al dente according to package directions

Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add add olive oil, garlic and mushrooms. Saute until mushrooms and garlic start to brown. Add shrimp, sprinkle with salt and pepper and saute until shrimp turn white. Add spinach, lemon juice and white wine, stirring until all ingredients are mixed together well. Simmer for 1 minute.

Add heavy cream and cook, stirring constantly for 3 minutes.

Remove from heat, add pasta and stir until pasta is hot and all ingredients are mixed well.

Also, last year we received a request for a Rockefeller cheese mold from the 1970s. After an extensive search of the archives with no results, it recently occurred to me that perhaps the reader meant a Roquefort cheese mold.

Here’s one I found published in the Arkansas Democrat “Today’s Women” section in 1974.

Party Cheese Ball

1 (8-ounce) package sharp

cheddar cheese, grated 1 (8-ounce) package cream

cheese, softened

4 ounces Roquefort or other

blue cheese

2 tablespoons horseradish

1 to 2 teaspoons garlic powder 1 teaspoon Worcestershire

sauce

1 cup finely minced fresh

parsley

1 cup finely chopped pecans

Combine all ingredients except parsley and pecans. Mix thoroughly.

Combine parsley and pecans and mix well. Add half of the parsley-pecan mixture to the cheese mixture, blending well. Spread remaining parsley-pecan mixture on a sheet of wax paper. Shape cheese mixture into a ball and roll in parsley-pecan mixture until well coated. Chill before serving. May be made well in advance as it freezes well.

Next week: Hot water cornbread.

Send recipe contributions, requests and culinary questions to Kelly Brant, Idea Alley, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, P.O. Box 2221, Little Rock, Ark. 72203; email:

kbrant@arkansasonline.com

Please include a daytime phone number.