Sauce – How long should I cook pasta sauce

Don't put the shrimp etc in the sauce in the first place and cook it separately, that way you don't have to take it out. Then just top your pasta with it and if say you are cooking meatballs and want a little sauce on them mix a little sauce in with your meatballs and then put them on top. If you want that mixed in with the pasta look then do the same thing I said above and mix the pasta in your individual serving bowls or plates if you are using one after you have dressed your pasta.

Your just not going to get an even distribution with random variables, all you can do is pick and count if you want everything evens.

I have used the exact same procedure that you describe on a number of occasions, and the result has always been a thick butter-like consistency, and I think that this is pretty much unavoidable when using a food processor. Maybe you can get a thinner consistency if you use the whole egg like ElendilTheTall suggested.

Anyway, since the sauce never emulsified, I think you have been pouring in your butter too quickly. It is important to just add a few drops at a time until the sauce has started emulsifying. After that you can go faster, but it should still only be a thin stream.

Also, something that I have noticed is that when using a food processor with only a small amount of egg yolks (or any ingredient, for that matter) is that the rotating knives will actually rotate above the ingredients and not actually mix them. When making hollandaise/mayonnaise, that will be fatal since you will just be pouring butter on top of a thin layer of egg yolks. So you might want to check your food processor and see if it works similar to mine.

While I realise that you use this recipe because it is easier than making hollandaise by hand in a bain-marie, I would suggest that you at least try making it "for real" once before settling on this method. The consistency is so much nicer. I think the flavour is better too but that may only be my imagination.