Champagne Shrimp & Pasta

INGREDIENTS:
8 oz angel hair pasta
1 lb shrimp, peeled & deveined
2 cups champagne or sparkling wine
1 Tablespoon lavender OR garlic (Optional)
1 cup fresh mushrooms, sliced
1 cup heavy cream (split into 3/4 cup and 1/4 cup)
3 Tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
2 Tablespoons minced shallots
1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
Freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Salt & Pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:
1 - Cook and drain pasta as directed on package
2 - While pasta is cooking, heat the olive oil on medium-high heat in a large skillet
3 - Cook mushrooms (and garlic, if using) in oil until tender, remove & set aside for later
4 - Combine shrimp, champagne, (lavender, if using) and salt in the skillet and cook on High heat. When liquid boils, remove shrimp & add the shallots.
5 - Boil for 8 minutes (until liquid reduces to about 1/2 cup)
6 - Stir in 3/4 cup cream and boil 2 minutes
7 - Add shrimp and mushrooms back into the skillet to heat through. Add salt and pepper to taste
8 - Toss hot pasta with remaining cream and fresh parsley
9 - Spoon shrimp & sauce over the pasta and top with Parmesan cheese

THOUGHTS:
This was my first attempt cooking with shrimp and it was a LOT easier than I expected. The lavender and garlic are two things I have tried with this recipe...first the lavender because I had it on hand and second the garlic just to see how it affected the recipe. I'm sure it would be just as tasty without either, but they both gave a nice aroma (lavender) and kick (garlic) to the basic recipe. This is going down in my book as one of my "go to" recipes when I want to impress someone.