Walnut Parsley Pesto with Zucchini and Shrimp

 

I loved the taste of this parsley and walnut pesto over the zucchini pasta. I used shrimp but you can substitute any protein source that you prefer. Sub in beans to make this a vegetarian dish.

This was so good that I made it again the next week, this time with shrimp and scallops and topped with avocado

It was a light, refreshing and filling dish, perfect for hot summer days.

This recipe is adapted from a recipe by Natural Grocers

The coloring of the pesto blend is lighter the second time because I made sure I did not burn the walnuts!  Honestly, I think next time I will double the amount of pesto sauce, it is just so good!

I used a mini zester to zest a whole organic lemon.  This was quick and easy to do.  If you make extra, freeze the rest of the zest in a small baggie for future use.

I left the peel on the zucchini and used organic

The pesto sauce is at first a nice bright and pretty green but once you add in the walnuts it does get a darker color.  Mine especially was darker since I burned some of the walnuts-watch them closely and don’t get distracted as I did!

Ingredients

  • ¼ cup chopped walnut pieces
  • 1 bunch parsley
  • 2 t. lemon zest (from one lemon)
  • 2 T. lemon juice
  • Dash sea salt
  • 3 T. EVOO
  • 1 T. avocado oil
  • 2 cloves garlic minced
  • 16 ounces raw shrimp peeled, deveined
  • s/p to taste
  • 2 medium organic zucchinis, spiralized
  • ½ a pint or organic grape tomatoes halved

Directions

  1. Toast the walnuts over medium low heat in a large pan for 5-8 minutes, until lightly toasted. Watch carefully so that they do not burn! Transfer to a bowl
  2. Remove the parsley from the stems and place into a food processor. Pulse the parsley until it is chopped. Add in the walnuts, the lemon zest and salt and process until smooth.
  3. Add in the lemon juice and 3 T. of EVOO and processes until all blended. Set aside
  4. Heat the avocado oil in the large skillet that you roasted the walnuts in. Add in the garlic and cook for about 30 seconds. Add in the shrimp and s/p to taste, and cook, flipping the shrimp when pink on one side.
  5. Add in the spiralized zucchini and cook for one minute. Add in the pesto and the tomatoes and toss to coat and cook for one minute. Remove from heat and serve.

Notes:

  • You can try chicken, salmon, beans, tempeh, scallops, etc in this recipe as a swap for shrimp
  • I have a mini spiralizer and spiralizing zucchini is very quick and easy but you can also buy it pre-made but a few times when I did this, I found the zucchini already slimy and on its way to spoiling so I just do it myself now.
  • You may want to cut up the zucchini after you spriralize it as some of the strands were so long and this made it difficult to blend and stir in the pesto.

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