Lemon Basil Tomato Pesto Pasta with Shrimp

Lemon Basil in the garden....

Southern Ontario is experiencing a wonderfully warm and steamy summer so far, which means that it's only June 23 and my garden looks like the 'after' picture from a Miracle Grow commercial.  This weekend I was delightfully surprised to find that my lemon basil plant already had enough leaves to make pesto....(YAY!). 

A couple of years ago, on one of my yearly trips to Florida, my aunt made this memorable Tomato Pesto Pasta with Shrimp.  You know how some dishes (for whatever reason) just stick with you (this happens to me all the time)....this pasta dish was no exception.  So I thought I'd take a crack at replicating it....and it turned out to be a TOTAL SUCCESS.

This recipe will give you left over pesto, which can stay in the fridge for a few weeks.  It has a fresh taste (from the lemon basil) and light richness (from the roasted garlic and roasted tomatoes) that would be great with baked fish, baked chicken, as a spread on a baguette (mmmm, baguette)....etc.

Mmmmmm...pasta....

Lemon Basil Tomato Pesto Pasta with Shrimp

Inspired by Sunny Anderson - Shrimp with Roasted Garlic Pesto Pasta

Serves 5

Ingredients:

20 cloves of garlic, peeled

1/2 cup of olive oil, plus a little more for roasting tomatoes

1 pound cherry tomatoes, washed and drained

1/4 cups + 2 tablespoons pine nuts

1/4 grated Parmesan

Salt and pepper

1 cup packed lemon basil leaves, rinsed and drained (regular basil will work just as well)

1 package of brown rice spaghetti (standard package is 454g)  (any pasta will work here - just modify the cooking time according to the package instructions)

1 pound large shrimp, shelled and deveined

Directions:

Pesto:

(1) Preheat oven to 375 degrees

(2) Place garlic in a single layer in a small baking dish

(3) Add 1/2 cup of olive oil to the dish, making sure all of the garlic cloves are coated

(4) Cover the baking dish with foil.  Roast garlic cloves in the oven for 45 minutes until fragrant and golden brown

(5) In a medium sized baking dish, toss the cherry tomatoes with enough olive oil to lightly coat (about 2 tablespoons)

(6) Place the tomatoes in the oven (at the same temperature --- 375 degrees) and roast (uncovered) for 25 minutes

-Tomato skin should be blister-y when they are ready

Roasted Tomatoes...

(7) While the garlic and tomatoes are roasting in the oven (your kitchen should smell really yummy by now), in a small fry pan on the stove, over medium heat, toast all of the pine nuts for about 15-20 minutes or until they are golden brown, turning occasionally so they don't burn…

-pine nuts should to be toasted before using.  There is this thing called 'pine nut mouth' that is not dangerous, but will mess with your tastebuds for a couple of days – which is not fun...

Toasting pine nuts...

(8) When the garlic is nicely roasted, remove the baking dish from the oven and remove the garlic cloves from the oil (both the garlic and the oil will be HOT so be careful).  Set the garlic aside in a small bowl.  Reserve the oil for use later.



          

Roasted garlic cloves on the bottom, garlic infused olive oil on the top...

       

(9) In a food processor, blend the roasted garlic and 1/4 cup of the toasted pine nuts until creamy

(10) Add the roasted tomatoes to the food processor (not including the olive oil from the dish the tomatoes were roasted in – this will make your pesto too liquidy) and lemon basil leaves.  Blend until smooth.

(11) Add the Parmesan.  Blend until smooth.

-while the food processor is running, add 1-2 tablespoons of the garlic infused olive oil.  This helps to bring everything together and enhances the garlic flavour.

(12) Your pesto should be the consistency of a paste now.  Season for salt.


Lemon Basil Tomato Pesto....

 Note: you will have leftover pesto. 

Pasta:

 (13) In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta, stirring occasionally, until almost tender, about 8-10 minutes

-I find that brown rice pasta is super starchy.  When water is super starchy, pasta will stick together - so make sure you are using a big enough pot with plenty of salted water to assist with constantly moving the starch away from the pasta surface.

-Salt your water people.  Adding salt now will reduce the amount of salt/cheese/butter you will have to add later.

(14) Reserve about a 1/2 cup of the pasta water prior to draining the cooked pasta

-this will be used to aid in the when tossing the pasta with the rest of ingredients later....

Shrimp: (can be done while pasta is cooking)

(15) In a small fry pan over medium-high heat, add 2 tablespoons of the garlic infused oil

(16) Season the shrimp with pepper and sauté until the shrimp turn pink (about 5-6 minutes....don't overcook - rubbery shrimp is never good...)

(17) Remove from heat

(18) In a large bowl, add the cooked pasta, and some of the pesto (I usually put 3-4 heaping spoonfuls - about a 1/4 of the total amount of pesto that this recipe makes).  Toss to coat the pasta with pesto.  If needed, add a bit of the pasta water to make tossing easier. 

(19) Add the shrimp and lightly toss just to coat the shrimp.

(20) Season for salt and pepper

(21) Garnish with the 2 tablespoons of leftover toasted pine nuts. 

Optional - serve with chilli flakes and lemon wedges on the side

Nutritional Information (for one serving - 1/5 of the final product):

Calories 583

Fat 19g

Carbs 76g

Fibre 5g

Protein 27g

WW Points 15

Happy Cooking!

Springtime Asparagus & Ham Pasta

It's Spring here in Can-adia.  Spring (to me) means that it's time to get the gardening on (hot peppers, tomatoes, herbs and the such), get a pedicure (to take care of the gnarled-winter-toe situation) and pull out the floaty spring dresses from last year.  It also means that for the next 4-5 months, the vegetables will taste a million times better than they do in the winter.

I found this recipe in a Foodland Ontario calendar that I have hanging in my cubicle at work....The calendar features a new recipe every month using one of the many Ontario fruits and vegetables that happens to be in season.  This month (May) it's Asparagus....This recipe is simple, really tasty and only takes about 30 minutes to prepare, so it's perfect for a weeknight dinner.

I find that asparagus has the beneficial side effects of reducing that ever-annoying water weight gain that happens once-in-a-while  (which is a WIN in my opinion)- I don't know if this is actually a real thing or just my imagination...either way, it is great when trying to fit into last year's spring/summer dresses!... And I am sure you don't need me to tell you that Asparagus is just plain good for you (even if it does make certain 'things' a little smelly).....

Springtime Asparagus & Ham Pasta

(modified from Foodland Ontario 2012 calendar)

Serves 5

Ingredients:

3 cups brown rice penne pasta (you could also use regular pasta, just modify the cooking time)

1 bunch of Asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces

                - to trim asparagus -  take the ends of the asparagus between your thumb and forefinger and bend until it breaks (should be bottom 1-2 inches of each spear) – this removes piece of the asparagus spear which is too hard to eat.

2 tbsp butter

1 onion, diced

3 tbsp flour

1 cup low sodium chicken stock (I cheated (gasp!) and used chicken stock from a cube)

1 cup skim milk

1 cup smoked ham, diced (I used a Maple Leaf’s low fat smoked ham steak)

1 tbsp grated lemon rind

1 tsp Dijon mustard

1 tsp fresh thyme, removed from stems and finely diced (I had just planted fresh lemon thyme in the garden, so I used that to give it an extra lemony kick...)

Freshly cracked black Pepper (to taste)

Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg

1 cup Parmesan (any sharp cheese would work...I just happened to have loads of parm in the fridge)

Chilli flakes for serving (optional)

Directions:

(1) In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta, stirring occasionally, until almost tender (about 8 minutes)

-I find that brown rice pasta is super starchy.  When the boiling pasta water is super starchy, the pasta will stick together - so make sure you are using a big enough pot with plenty of salted water.  This will help the starch to keep moving instead of resting on the pasta surface.

 -Salt your water people!  Adding salt now will reduce the amount of salt/cheese/butter you will have to add later to the sauce.

(2) Add the chopped up Asparagus to the boiling pot.  Cook for another 4-5 minutes until both pasta and asparagus are tender. 

-Don't overcook.  Overcooked asparagus is never good.

(3) Drain the noodles and asparagus; set aside in a large bowl.

(4) Combine the chicken stock and milk in a container; set aside.

(5) In a medium-sized sauce pan on medium-high heat, melt butter.

(6) Add the diced onion to the pan and cook until softened - about 3 minutes.

(7) Stir in flour and let toast for a couple of minutes.

(8) Slowly whisk in milk and broth mixture;  bring this mixture to a simmer (this will thicken it up).  Simmer for about 1-2 minutes, stirring often.

(9) Add the diced ham, lemon rind, mustard, thyme and pepper.  Simmer for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

-if the sauce gets too thick - add a bit more milk and put the cover on the pot.

(10) Add nutmeg and the Parmesan cheese to the sauce.  Combine until the cheese is melted.   Remove from heat.

(11) Pour sauce over pasta and asparagus;  Toss well.  

-Serve with chilli flakes for an extra layer of flavour.

Weight watchers points per serving: (I am a big fan of WW.  I've never been on it, but I've seen it work wonders on friends and colleagues...) 9

Happy Cooking.