Date Night In Cilantro Pistachio Pesto Shrimp Pasta

Pesto shrimp pasta with a crazy good fresh cilantro pistachio pesto! This pasta is easy to make but will make you feel like you’re at a fancy restaurant. Serve with garlic bread or a side salad for a great ‘date night in’ meal. This recipe is in partnership with ALDI.

I can’t believe this is the first shrimp recipe on Ambitious Kitchen. Welcome, my shrimp lovers.

Today I’ve partnered up with ALDI to share a fabulous shrimp recipe you can impress just about anybody with: Cilantro Pistachio Pesto Shrimp Pasta. GUYS, IT’S SO GOOD and absolutely perfect for Valentine’s Day. In fact, it’s one of those recipes that tastes like it belongs on a restaurant menu, which is exactly why I’m calling it my ‘Date Night In’ pasta. Make a side salad or my famous garlic bread recipe and get ready to have a cooking night in with your hunny. Or yourself. Whatever floats your boat sweetie pies.

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Here’s what’s involved:

liveGfree Gluten Free Brown Rice Spaghetti from ALDI: an easy way to make this pasta gluten free! It tastes just like regular spaghetti and is perfect for serving to those who are gluten intolerant or have celiac.

Cilantro Pistachio Pesto: wow, just wow! This pesto is beyond incredible and I’m convinced I need to start adding it or dipping just about everything in it (sweet potato fries, anyone?). The cilantro pistachio pesto is made with roasted pistachios, olive oil, fresh cilantro, jalapeño, garlic and lime juice. It has a little zip and a slight hint of jalapeño flavor and roasted pistachios.

Fun fact: I first discovered my love of cilantro pesto last year when I made my street corn pasta salad. The cilantro pesto made the pasta incredibly fresh tasting and bright in flavor. This time I wanted to switch it up and use pistachios; the combination was an excellent choice.

Shrimp: ALDI has a line of frozen shrimp that I like to use because it’s inexpensive, convenient, and high quality. The shrimp is already deveined and the tails are off, making it easy to throw into a pan without any prep. I don’t even defrost the shrimp; instead I throw them in a pan with a little olive oil, garlic powder and salt and pepper and cook until they just turn pink and opaque.

Goat cheese crumbles: While this is optional, I LOVE the flavor it adds the pasta. You can either fold it in at the end or sprinkle on top of the pasta. DELICIOUS.

I hope you all enjoy this ‘date night in’ pasta! If you make it, please be sure to rate the recipe and leave a comment below. You can also tag #ambitiouskitchen on Instagram — I love seeing photos of what you make.

5.0 from 3 reviews

Date Night In Cilantro Pistachio Pesto Shrimp Pasta

 

Author: Monique of AmbitiousKitchen.com

Nutrition Information

• Serves: 4 servings

• Serving size: 1/4 of recipe
• Calories: 448

• Fat: 18.4g
• Saturated fat: 3.2g
• Carbohydrates: 54.6g
• Sugar: 1.3g
• Fiber: 3.9g
• Protein: 17.4g

Recipe type: Dinner, Seafood, Gluten Free

Prep time:  15 mins

Cook time:  30 mins

Total time:  45 mins

Print

Pesto shrimp pasta with a crazy good fresh cilantro pistachio pesto! This pasta is easy to make but will make you feel like you’re at a fancy restaurant. Serve with garlic bread or a side salad for a great ‘date night in’ meal. This recipe is in partnership with ALDI.

Ingredients

• For the pesto:
• 1/2 cup packed fresh cilantro
• ⅓ cup shelled roasted pistachios
• 1 jalapeno, seeds removed
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1/2 lime, juiced
• 3 tablespoons avocado or olive oil
• 2-3 tablespoons water, to thin pesto
• ½ teaspoon salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• For the shrimp:
• 1/2 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 pound Freemont Fish Raw Shrimp, deveined and tails off
• ½ teaspoon garlic powder
• Freshly ground salt and pepper
• For the pasta:
• 10 oz liveGfree Gluten Free Brown Rice Spaghetti
• To garnish:
• 1/4 cup Happy Farms goat cheese
• Extra cilantro
• Chopped roasted pistachios

Instructions

1. Make the pesto by adding the following to the bowl of a food processor: cilantro, pistachios, jalapeño, garlic cloves, lime juice, olive oil, water and salt and pepper. Process until smooth, scraping down the sides and processing again, if necessary.
2. Next cook the shrimp: add olive oil to a large skillet or pan and place over medium high heat. Add in shrimp, garlic powder and salt and pepper; cook until shrimp is no longer pink. Remove from heat and set aside.
3. Cook the pasta until al dente, according to the directions on the package. Drain pasta, then add back to pot. Stir in the pesto and shrimp until well coated. Add pasta to bowls and garnish with goat cheese, a few cilantro leaves and a sprinkle of crushed pistachios. Serve immediately. Makes about 4 servings.

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