Pasta with Pesto and Shrimp
There’s nothing like garden-fresh pesto tossed with hot pasta, sautéed shrimp and cherry tomatoes. You can buy already made pesto in grocery stores, but it’s so easy to do at home – all you need is a food processor, and there’s no cooking involved.
Ingredients
1 lb. bowtie (or other) pasta
1 lb. medium-sized green (uncooked) shrimp, peeled
About ½ cup pesto (prepared, or homemade – see below)
About 2 cups worth cherry tomatoes, halved
In a large saucepan, boil pasta according to directions. Meanwhile, in a medium skillet, melt 2 tablespoons butter along with 2 tablespoons olive oil. Sauté shrimp until pink, about five minutes. Set aside.
When pasta is cooked, drain (don’t rinse), return to pot and immediately add pesto. Toss to coat. Add shrimp and cherry tomatoes and gently mix. Serve immediately. Enough for 4.
NOTE: I like to buy bags of frozen, raw shrimp (already peeled). You can put them right into the skillet from the freezer – no need to thaw.
BONUS RECIPE: PESTO
2 cups loosely packed fresh basil leaves
¼ cup pine nuts
¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
4 cloves garlic, peeled
Extra virgin olive oil
The Recipe
Put basil leaves in a food processor and process until fine. Add nuts, cheese and garlic and mix well. With processor running, slowly add olive oil until it is a good consistency to toss with pasta. Season with salt and pepper.
