This shrimp kale artichoke pesto pasta recipe is a light, quick way to comfort any pasta and seafood lover! Succulent shrimps are loaded with garlic and herbs, broiled for a few minutes and served on top of pasta tossed with a super kale artichoke pesto. This recipe is a perfect match of flavor and convenience. It will be your go to seafood pasta dinner!
This is another super fast, easy way to have a shrimp dinner in minutes. Because the truth is, shrimps don’t ever need more than just minutes to cook—so they’re one of my favorite last minute dinners. Depending on what you’re serving them with, or what you feel like having for dinner—so either a fresh, satisfying large bowl of salad like this Shrimp salad with avocado dressing, or a little carb comfort like in this case—pasta.
The backbone of this shrimp kale artichoke pesto pasta recipe comes from the super kale artichoke walnut pesto, but for the record, your favorite type of pesto will make a great substitute. Try this sun dried tomato pesto, or for a nut free version on the all time favorite basil pesto, try this vibrant protein packed nut free basil pesto. The benefit of using a pesto here is infusing as much flavor and creating a sauce for the pasta without actually having to cook one. It’s a super time saver sauce to keep in your fridge and use it in endless ways, not to mention it only needs 5 minutes o prepare in the first place.
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- Before broiling
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- Broiled
When it comes to the shrimp, you can cook them on the stove top or like in this recipe—broil them. I mentioned broiling before as one of my go-to ways to cook fish. It’s a convenient and fool proof way to ensure the fish is cooked through within minutes. And it’s done in the oven, so you don’t have to do the work! Basically after setting your oven to broil, you’ll place the oven rack at the top most position—so that the fish would be about 6 inches away from he heating element in your oven.
I love tossing the shrimps with plenty of garlic, some herbs, lemon juice and olive oil. No need to marinate or wait a minute beyond the time your oven is hot and ready. For easy clean up, line your baking sheet with foil or parchment paper, and spread the shrimps in one layer on the sheet then broil them for 3-5 minutes depending on the size of your shrimps. It’s best if your pasta is already boiling at this time, so all you’ll need to do is toss the pasta with the pesto and serve it with the succulent broiled shrimps for a fabulous shrimp kale artichoke pesto pasta dinner—and enjoy!:)
Shrimp Kale Artichoke Pesto Pasta
Ingredients
- 2 lb of fresh or frozen and thawed shrimps , peeled and deveined. ( 20-25 count, less or more—to your taste)
- 3 large cloves of garlic minced
- 3 tablespoons of fresh herbs mixed ( a mixture of parsley, basil, mint, oregano, cilantro or just one, or your favorite combination)
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 2 tablespoons of olive oil
- 1/4 teaspoon of salt
- pinch of fresh black pepper
- 20 ounce of linguine or your favorite pasta
- 1 1/2 Tablespoons of salt for the pasta water
- Kale Artichoke Walnut Pesto
- 1/4 cup of freshly grated Parmesan cheese , and more for sprinkling
Instructions
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Preheat your oven to broil.
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Place a large pot of water on high heat and let it boil vigorously. Add in the salt and pasta.
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Line a baking sheet with foil or parchment paper. Toss the shrimps with the garlic, herbs, lemon juice, olive oil and seasoning. Layer the shrimps in a single layer on the baking sheet and broil for 3-5 minutes (depending on the shrimp size) until the shrimp turns pink and completely opaque. Let it cool for a couple of minutes while you finish off the pasta.
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When the pasta is done, remove 1/4 cup-1/2 cup of the pasta water (the water where the pasta has been boiling and cooking away) and strain the pasta completely.
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Toss the pasta with 1/4 cup (more or less to taste) of the kale artichoke pesto and add the pasta water 2 tablespoons at a time creating a sauce (as thin or thick as you prefer) and add the Parmesan cheese while mixing.
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Keep adding more pasta water and cheese until you reach the desired thickness and consistency of the sauce.
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Serve the pasta topped with the broiled shrimps. Sprinkle extra Parmesan cheese if desired.
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