Pasta with shrimp, artichoke hearts, basil pesto, and peas. A great quick, pull-together meal.
A friend of mine introduced me to this Shrimp and Artichoke Pasta recipe years ago and it has become one of my favorite dishes to make for a midweek meal.
Even though it looks like there’s a lot going on—shrimp, artichokes, peas, pesto, pasta—the whole dish can be made in the time it takes to cook the pasta!
The recipe uses items that I typically keep on hand in the freezer—frozen shrimp, peas, and artichoke hearts—as well as pesto. I make my own basil pesto in the summer and freeze it to use all year long, or if I’m out, I’ll buy some ready made. If it’s winter and there is no basil pesto to be found at the market, I’ll make kale pesto, which works just as well.
After raiding the pantry and freezer, all you need is some garlic, green onions, and parsley. Easy!
Recipe and photos updated, first published 2008
Shrimp and Artichoke Pasta Recipe
- Prep time: 15 minutes
- Cook time: 15 minutes
- Yield: Serves 4
Ingredients
- 1/2 pound linguine, fettuccine, spaghetti, or other pasta
- 1/4 cup prepared basil pesto (or spinach, arugula, or kale pesto)
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 clove garlic, finely minced
- 1 pound raw shrimp (21 to 30 count), peeled, deveined
- 1 cup frozen peas
- 8 ounces frozen artichoke heart quarters, thawed, cut in half lengthwise
- 1/3 cup thinly sliced green onions, including the greens
- 1/3 cup minced fresh parsley
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Method
1 Boil the pasta: Heat a large pot of salted water (4 quarts of water, 2 tablespoons salt) on high heat until boiling.
Add the pasta. Cook uncovered on high heat with a vigorous boil until al dente (cooked but still a little firm), about 10 minutes or whatever your pasta package says is appropriate for al dente.
2 Reserve some pasta cooking liquid, drain pasta. Once the pasta is done, and before draining the pasta, scoop out one cup of the pasta cooking liquid and reserve. Drain the pasta.
3 Toss the pasta with the pesto and keep it warm.
4 Sauté the shrimp and garlic: Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and shrimp and cook, stirring, for 1 minute, until the shrimp is pink but not quite cooked through.
5 Add the peas and artichokes, lower the heat to medium, cover and cook for an additional minute.
6 Add green onions, parsley, pasta: Add the green onions and parsley, reduce the heat to low. Add the pasta and about a third of a cup of the reserved cooking water.
Toss to coat evenly. Add more cooking water if the pasta is still a little too dry.
Season with salt and pepper. Serve immediately.
Adapted from a recipe in Julee Rosso’s Fresh Start
cookbook.
