Recipe: Penne with Shrimp, Peas, and Pesto

This is so lovely and tasty! I created this since I wanted the FLAVOR of risotto but didn’t have any arborio rice to MAKE risotto.

Ingredients:

• 5 C whole wheat penne – cooked
• 3 cloves garlic – minced
• 2 medium shallots – minced
• 1/2 C white wine
• 1 TBSP butter
• 1/2 C reserved pasta water
• 1 C frozen peas
• 12oz frozen shrimp – peeled and deveined
• 1/4 C prepared jarred pesto
• 2 1/2oz Parmesan cheese – weighed THEN grated
• Kosher Salt
• Freshly Ground Black Pepper
• cooking spray

Directions:

1. In a large pot that’s been sprayed with cooking spray on medium heat, add your shallots and cook until soft, about 2-3 minutes. Stir often as we don’t want BURNED shallots!
2. Add your garlic and the white wine. Reduce the wine for about 4-5 minutes.
3. Add in your peas, shrimp, a bit of the cooking water from the pasta, and the pesto.
4. Cook for about 8 minutes, until the peas and shrimp are heated through. Add in your Parmesan cheese, butter, salt, and pepper to taste. Toss with the whole wheat penne.
5. This recipe makes 6 servings. Each serving is 1C.

Everyone, especially my husband LOVED this pasta dish. It’s really so simple to make as long as you have everything on hand.