When all good things come together, it makes such amazing dish like this creamy pesto shrimp spaghetti! With homemade basil pesto, things rise to a whole new level of yumminess!
This recipe of pesto shrimp spaghetti has a long story of its own. To bring in the context, I have to elaborate on my interminable relationship with shrimps! I can survive only on shrimps and I am sure I won’t complain!
So, it was high time to do some experiments with shrimps and coincidentally I had a bottle of my homemade basil pesto resting in freezer. Pesto shrimps sounded an incredible combination because I already had the unforgettable memory of my delicious grilled shrimps with garlic and herbs fresh in my mind.
To churn out a main course dish from this shrimpy experiment, I finally arrived at this recipe of pesto shrimp spaghetti! I had no idea what I was looking for in my final dish; I just went with the flow and at the end this pesto shrimp spaghetti turned out to be one the tastiest pastas I have made till date!
Any kind of pasta with basil pesto, to be specific homemade basil pesto, has already got my heart and then you add shrimps to it and I am totally sold out!
Make it creamy pesto and I am almost dead! To add some extra crunch, throw in some asparagus and now tell me who wouldn’t be sold out on this beauty! This creamy pesto shrimp spaghetti has it all to be an undisputed winner at any dinner table!
Since shrimps cook really fast, this delicious pesto shrimp spaghetti is a perfect choice for busy weeknights too! Plus This requires just one pot! Sounds like win-win?
If you are as strong a shrimp lover as me, then you have come to the right place. You will get ample shrimp recipes here in our blog with more being added frequently.
Starting from Thai shrimps in coconut sauce to the baked bang bang shrimp – you will get all possible shrimp recipes here simply because I am a shrimp fanatic. When spaghetti, or any pasta for that matter, is made with shrimp, it doesn’t remain good any more – it becomes ‘the best’!
This creamy pesto shrimp spaghetti has one more special component which makes it so insanely mind-blowing and that is my homemade basil pesto made of fresh basil leaves harvested from our very own kitchen garden.
Making basil pesto at home is as easy as spreading butter on a toast and tastes zillion times better than the readymade bottled pesto available in supermarkets. I really encourage you to try making basil pesto at home following my recipe here and see the difference for yourself.
But just in case you are pressed for time or do not have enough fresh basil at hand and still are craving for this stunning pesto shrimp spaghetti, you can use your favorite brand of basil pesto to move things quicker.
Shrimp pastas are quite favorite of my better half too. His favorite till date was shrimp scampi with capellini and now this creamy pesto shrimp spaghetti has come quite high on his list. I also got a good variation of my regular pesto pasta recipe which I usually make with some grilled chicken.
Addition of asparagus is an idea I got from one of the many recipes I watched on YouTube and it clicked immediately with me as I don’t get enough scope to use asparagus. This super-food adds the right amount of crunch to the dish and makes a complete meal.
I believe I make pastas quite frequently for an Indian household since pasta is not our traditional staple food; but it keeps reappearing at our dinner table because, firstly, it makes for a wholesome meal and, secondly, due to the ease of its ‘pre’ and ‘post’ preparation.
Thanks to the robustness, pasta is always a weeknight friendly meal and I am sure you will love this creamy pesto shrimp spaghetti as much as we do! Try it!
- Spaghetti – 250 gms
- Shrimp – 400 gms (about 10-15 medium shrimps)
- Basil pesto – ½ cup
- Olive oil – 4 tbsp
- Tomato – 1, large, cut into ½ inch cubes
- Asparagus – 15, cut into 2 inch long pieces
- Heavy cream – 1 cup
- Cheddar cheese – 1 cup, grated
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Cook spaghetti in heavily salted boiling water as per the package instructions until al-dente. Drain and set it aside. Reserve a cup of pasta boiling water.
- Peel and devein the shrimps keeping the end of the tail intact. Wash and put them in a bowl. Add one tablespoon of basil pesto, salt and pepper and mix well to coat each shrimp thoroughly. Let the shrimps marinate for 15 minutes.
- Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a skillet. Add the marinated shrimps and cook each side for couple of minutes on medium flame until the shrimps turn opaque. Take them out and set aside.
- Heat remaining oil in the same skillet and add the asparagus. Saute them for 5 minutes on medium.
- Next add the chopped tomatoes and continue cooking until tomatoes are soft. Season with salt and mix well.
- Then add the heavy cream keeping the flame on low to avoid splitting. Let the cream come to a boil.
- Once the cream starts boiling, add the cooked spaghetti and top it with remaining basil pesto and mix in well.
- Return the sautéed shrimps to the skillet and stir everything carefully.
- Finally add the grated cheddar cheese and cook until the cheese melts and all the excess liquid is absorbed.
- Serve the pesto shrimp spaghetti with more sprinkles of grated cheese and a dash of red chili flakes. Enjoy!
Followed recipe, and came out real good. The video helped. The recipe calls for a cup of the pasta water, but was never used. Was this a mistake, or was it supposed to be added with the heavy cream? Great recipes, will try more
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This is such a beautiful pasta dish! Love the flavors and how fresh it looks!
So yummy post! I really like it!