Shrimp Pesto Pasta

Shrimp Pesto Pasta is a deliciously light pasta dish packed with fresh and aromatic ingredients like basil and garlic in the homemade pesto sauce and sautéed shrimp. As an added touch, it’s topped with shaved parmesan and pine nuts. This is a bright and impressive dish but you wouldn’t believe how EASY it is to make.

Quick Overview

• Combination of juicy, bright and flavorful pesto pasta and perfectly sauteed shrimp is absolutely divine.
• The whole dish comes together in less than 30 minutes and you can prepare all three components at the same time!
• Cooking Water is a secret ingredient to juicy, saucy pasta! The starchy water that the pasta is cooked in will help the consistency of the pesto by keeping it moist! Pesto has a tendency to dry out because pasta soaks up the oil quickly, and cooking water helps to avoid that entirely.
• Feel free to use GLUTEN FREEE noodles when needed!

Shrimp Pesto Pasta Cooking Tips

• This is a fast moving recipe, so gather the ingredients before starting to cook.
• Start cooking pasta in salted water and make pesto. Pesto is super simple, just toss all of the required ingredients into a food processor and pulse until it’s smooth and well blended.
• Shrimp only needs about 5 minutes to cook but make sure to pre-heat the cooking pan first! Sear shrimp in a hot pan just until opaque on each side. (Make sure not to overcrowd the shrimp, use a large cooking pan.)
• Right before straining pasta make sure to reserve about a cup of cooking water.
• It’s best to toss the pasta, pesto, and cooking water in a bowl, NOT in the hot cooking pot! Pesto (basil) tends to turn black when exposed to heat.
• You can toss the shrimp with the pasta or plate the pasta and then top it with the sauteed shrimp.

Variations To Try

• Chicken – I love to marinate chicken breasts in a mixture of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper, garlic powder, dried basil, oregano, and parsley. After marinating for a couple of hours, I just pan-cook it for 5-7 minutes per side. The exact time will depend on the thickness of the chicken. (You can check internal temperature and it should be 165°F.)
• Other proteins – pesto pasta works very well with other seafood like seared scallops, crispy skin salmon, pecan crusted salmon, or lobster tails.
• Add veggies – you can add some sauteed veggies like tomatoes, zucchini, summer squash, asparagus, or broccoli.
• Bacon – everything is better with bacon!

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More Summer Pasta Recipes!

• Pesto Chicken Pinwheels
• Pesto Grilled Cheese
• Cheesy Pesto Chicken Stuffed Shells
• Pesto Alfredo Tortellini
• Pesto Roasted Potatoes Carrots and Asparagus

Originally published on Will Cook For Smiles in May 2021.