Homemade Pesto and Shrimp Skewers

Homemade pesto is the best.

Store bought brands are loaded with unnecessary extra oil, and honestly, they don’t taste NEARLY this good.

I decided to use some of my pesto for grilled shrimp and it was delicious.

Here’s what you need (adapted from Skinny Taste)…

1 cup of packed basil leaves

2 cloves of garlic

¼ cup of pine nuts

¼ cup of parmigiano reggiano cheese

¼ cup of extra virgin olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

¾ lb of peeled and deveined shrimp

Here’s what you do…

1. Add basil to your food processor, blend. Then add garlic, blend. Then pine nuts, blend. Then cheese, blend. Then olive oil, blend. Difficult, huh?

2. Add salt and pepper to your taste and mix in.

3. In a small bowl, add 3-4 good spoonfuls of pesto to raw shrimp. You want enough so it coats the shrimp well. Cover the bowl, and let the shrimp marinate in the fridge for at least an hour, but longer if possible.

4. You can do your shrimp either on the grill or in a pan. I chose the grill, but if you want to use a pan, simply coat the pan lightly with oil and place the shrimp in over high heat for about 3-4 minutes per side.

5. If you are using the grill, skewer 5 shrimp on metal or wooden skewers (if you're using wood ones, make sure you soak them in water before placing them on the grill).

6. Grill for 3-4 minutes on each side, or until the shrimp are pink.

7. Enjoy! We served ours over a bed of whole wheat angel hair pasta mixed with the leftover pesto. It was so good.

Pesto is good for all sorts of things (mix with a little mayo for a delicious spread for your sandwich), so this is a great recipe to double and then save the extra. 

Hope everyone is having a great week!