This poached shrimp with basil pesto recipe has cherry tomatoes, pine nuts, and Parmesan cheese. Serve shrimp with basil pesto over pasta or rice.
Basil Pesto For Poached Shrimp
I like to lightly pulse (instead of full on blend) the basil pesto ingredients in the food processor so it creates a chunkier pesto. But, by all means, make smooth basil pesto if that's what you like!
Toss the poached shrimp with the chunky basil pesto and top it off with extra pine nuts and fresh Parmesan cheese.
Wanna go an extra step for the basil pesto? Bring a small pan to medium high heat and toast the pine nuts but watch carefully because they are quick to burn.
Don’t have pine nuts for the pesto? No problem – use pistachios, walnuts, brazil nuts, almonds, whatever! I love basil pesto with pistachios instead of pine nuts too.
Tips For Simpler Shrimp With Basil Pesto
- Buy fresh already peeled and deveined shrimp from the grocery store OR
- Buy frozen peeled and deveined shrimp and defrost before using.
- Buy pre-made basil pesto instead of making basil pesto from scratch like the recipe instructs.
Shrimp with Basil Pesto TIPS
Freeze any leftover basil pesto flat in a ziploc bag and break off and thaw desired amount as needed for future recipes.
Boiling the shrimp instead of pan frying them makes for a clean fresh look and taste for the basil pesto pasta.
TIP: Keep the shrimp shells and combine with water, salt, and your favorite herb or spices to make a killer homemade seafood stock / broth.
Serve shrimp and basil pesto with cherry tomatoes over pasta or rice. Orzo is my favorite pasta to serve this with.
Shrimp with Basil Pesto and Cherry Tomatoes
EatSimpleFood.com
This poached shrimp with basil pesto recipe has cherry tomatoes, pine nuts, and Parmesan cheese. Serve shrimp with basil pesto over pasta or rice.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 4
- Category: Appetizer, Dinner / Main Dish
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian
- Diet: Gluten Free, Keto, Low Fat, Low-Carb, Pescatarian
Ingredients
Ingredient List Shrimp:
- 1 ½ lb shrimp, peeled & deveined
- 1 ½ cup cherry tomatoes, halved
- ½ cup grated Parmesan Cheese - as garnish
- ¼ cup pine nuts - as garnish
- 1 lemon zested - as garnish
Parmesan Cheese - as garnishIngredient List Basil Pesto:
- 3 cups packed basil leaves (~ 1.5 oz)
- 2 small cloves garlic (~ 2 tsp)
- ⅓ cup pine nuts
- ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
- ½ cup e.v. olive oil
- 2 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- ~ ½ -¾ teaspoon salt
- black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add shrimp and cook ~3 minutes or until done.
- Make pesto: Add all pesto ingredients to a food processor or blender. Lightly pulse until desired consistency. Add salt, lemon juice, or olive oil to taste.
- Toss shrimp, basil pesto, and cherry tomatoes together and garnish with pine nuts, lemon zest, and Parmesan cheese.
Notes
- Serve shrimp and basil pesto with cherry tomatoes over pasta or rice. Orzo is my favorite pasta to serve this with.
- Don't like peeling and deveining shrimp? Buy them already done. Shrimp can also be peeled and deveined after boiling if you don't like to peel and devein raw.
- Wanna go an extra step? Bring a small pan to medium high heat and toast the pine nuts but watch carefully - they are quick to burn.
- Don’t have pine nuts for the pesto? No problem – use pistachios, walnuts, brazil nuts, almonds, whatever!
- Freeze leftover pesto flat in a ziploc bag and break off and thaw what you need.
Things In My Kitchen:
- Zester / Grater - This is for gettin' that Parmesan cheese grated real fine.
- Shrimp peeler & deveiner - There's a lot of fancy & expensive shrimp peelers out there. This inexpensive, plastic one works the best for me. I am lost without it.
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Serving Suggestion
This shrimp with basil pesto recipe can stand on its own but it also goes well with Parmesan crisps, cold cucumber soup, salami fig salad, or a lemon dill orzo salad.
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Shrimp Tips For This Basil Pesto Recipe
Don't like peeling and deveining shrimp? Buy shrimp already done. Most grocery stores also sell pre - cooked shrimp.
Shrimp can also be peeled and deveined after boiling if you don't like to peel and devein raw shrimp.
Raw frozen shrimp that have been defrosted will also work for this shrimp with basil pesto recipe.
Keep the raw shrimp on ice while you peel and devein it.
This was delicious!! We used tomatoes and basil from our garden and it was so good.
Thanks Calle. I love it too!