This old-school recipe redefines pesto you might be used to making or buying. Its liquid component is a quick broth instead of oil, which extracts maximum flavor from the shellfish and keeps the dish light-tasting.
It also affords a good opportunity to use up any leftover amounts of dried pasta shapes you have on hand — all that nubbiness works nicely with the shrimp. In testing, we used raw almonds per the original recipe; if you would rather not end up with bits of almond skin in your pesto, use whole blanched almonds or almond slivers.
We recommend using cherry tomatoes here rather than grape tomatoes, because they are juicier.
The dish is a good one to make for folks in a household who eat at different times, because it tastes as great at room temperature as it does warm. Take leftovers to work the next day, and be sure to stir them up first to get all the bits evenly re-coated.
Serve with a green salad.
Pasta and Shrimp With Sicilian Pesto
Servings: 4 to 6
1 pound shell-on, U.S. wild-caught shrimp (26-30 count), defrosted if frozen
2 cups water
8 cherry tomatoes, plus 1 or 2 for garnish
Kosher salt
12 to 16 ounces dried, short shaped pasta, such as elbow macaroni or fusilli
Leaves from 4 stems fresh mint
Leaves from 2 to 4 stems fresh basil, plus a few leaves for garnish
2 cloves garlic
12 whole (raw) almonds (may use blanched whole or slivered almonds)
2 tablespoons pine nuts, plus more for garnish
Peel and devein the shrimp, placing the shells and tails in a medium saucepan along with the tomatoes and water. Reserve the shrimp on a plate.
Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce the heat to medium and cook the shell mixture for 20 minutes. The tomatoes should burst or at least deflate; if they don’t, you can pierce them with tip of a sharp knife during cooking.
Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a boil over medium-high heat. Add a generous pinch or two of salt and the pasta; cook according to the package directions. Drain, reserving 1 cup of the pasta cooking water, and return the pasta to its pot.
Strain the shrimp-tomato broth, discarding the solids. Return the broth to the small saucepan. Increase the heat to high; boil for 3 minutes, so the broth has reduced to about 1 cup (and its flavor is concentrated). Keep ½ cup of it in the pan, then pour off the rest (save or discard). Turn off the heat.
Finely chop the mint, basil, garlic and almonds; add to the small saucepan, along with the pine nuts. Use an immersion (stick) blender to puree into a loose, frothy sauce, adding more of the reduced broth, as needed. Taste, and season lightly with salt.
Add the reserved shrimp to the pesto sauce. Cook over medium heat, stirring gently and frequently, just until the shrimp is just opaque and pink.
Pour the sauce and shrimp into the pot with the drained pasta, along with ½ cup of the reserved pasta cooking water. Stir to incorporate, adding more of the remaining pasta cooking water as needed to keep the pasta saucy. Cook over low heat, just until the pasta is warmed through.
Transfer to a large warmed serving bowl. Garnish with more pine nuts, and an extra tomato and fresh basil leaf or two.
Adapted from “Adventures From an Italian Food Lover,” by Faith Willinger (Crown, 2007).
Calories: 290; Total Fat: 3 g; Saturated Fat: 0 g; Cholesterol: 120 mg; Sodium: 280 mg; Carbohydrates: 42 g; Dietary Fiber: 2 g; Sugars: 2 g; Protein: 23 g.
