We love shrimp. We love pesto too. Why? Because they are both so easy and quick to make. Shrimp are great because you can just sauté them for a few minutes and you’ve got a meal. Pesto takes barely any time to prepare, yet packs a big punch of flavor.
We wanted to try something a little different, so we created this mint and pea pesto as the base, and tossed it with some quick sautéed shrimp. Whole wheat pasta was a very nice foil for this sauce – it had a bit more flavor than a traditional pasta would have, which paired very nicely with the pesto.
This dish only takes a few minutes to put together, so it’s a great option for a weeknight. Give it a go!
Making the Dish
What You’ll Need
1/2 lb whole wheat pasta
1/2 lb medium shrimp, cleaned and deveined
1 cup fresh mint
1.25 cups peas
1/4 cup walnuts
2 cloves garlic
1/4 cup pecorino romano cheese
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tbsp butter
salt and pepper to taste
To get started on the pesto, combine the peas, mint, walnuts, garlic, and cheese in a food processor. Pulse a few times to get things chopped up. Then turn on and drizzle in olive oil. Scrape down the sides of the food processor and pulse again. Continue this until a nice pasta forms. Taste and add salt and pepper to your liking.
Bring a pot of salted water to a boil and cook the pasta to package directions.
While the pasta is cooking, heat up a skillet and melt the butter. Toss in the shrimp and cook for about 2 – 3 minutes, until the shrimp has turned opaque but has not started to shrink. You don’t want to overcook it! Remove the skillet from heat when the shrimp has cooked.
Add the pesto to the skillet with the shrimp and stir to combine. Add in a ladle of pasta water and stir together until a nice silky sauce is formed.
Bring the cooked pasta from the cooking water into the skillet with the pesto and shrimp. Toss everything together to combine until the pasta is nicely coated.
Then, serve in big broad bowls, and enjoy!
