Shrimp with Cilantro Pesto
Hubby and I have been enjoying our new kitchen so much but sometimes we get a bit ambitious… I pick exciting new recipes I want to try and then it’s 8:30 before we sit down to eat. Yea, that just doesn’t sit well in my stomach. So we’ve been trying to save those more intricate recipes for the weekends and focus on easy to make weeknight meals. This is our most recent go-to weeknight meal. We’ve been eating it about once a week because it takes no time at all.
The first thing you need for this meal is some frozen pesto. Obviously freshly made pesto or pesto from a jar would also work, but I’ve started freezing pesto, as I’ve seen so many other food bloggers do. See, our fridge came with these little mini ice cube trays. They’re somewhat useless for making ice cubes, so I use them for pesto. The first time I froze pesto was after we made the salmon with cilantro pesto. Now, any time a recipe calls for fresh herbs, I take whatever is left and whip up pesto to freeze.
The next thing you need is some shrimp. We like to buy the two pound bag of shell-on uncooked frozen shrimp when it’s on sale. Just thaw 1/2 the bag and remove the shells. I like to sprinkle the shrimp with some Old Bay prior to throwing them on the griddle that came with our new stove.
Once the shrimp is cooked, throw it in a bowl with a few of your pesto cubes. I like to use 4-6 of my mini pesto cubes for a pound of shrimp. Now cover the bowl with saran wrap and shake it so that the heat from the shrimp defrosts the pesto and the pesto distributes itself on all of the shrimp (a ziplock bag would work for this too, although I’ve never tried that).
And voila, in no time at all, dinner is served. I like to steam some veggies or throw together a quick salad to serve with this shrimp.
Shrimp with Cilantro Pesto
Yield: Serves 2
Ingredients:
1 lb uncooked shrimp, peeled
Old Bay seasoning
frozen pesto cubes
Directions:
Sprinkle Old Bay on the peeled shrimp and cook shrimp in a pan, on the grill, basically any way you like.
Put cooked shrimp into a bowl with a few pesto cubes and cover. Shake to distribute pesto. Enjoy!
I am Jen the Beantown Baker. Engineer by day and baking maven by night. Hubby serves as my #1 fan and official taste tester. We got hitched back in 2006. Barefoot. In the sand. With the waves crashing behind us. It was one of the best decisions we’ve ever made. 
I’m guessing you’ve tried Manchego? It’s my favorite sheep’s milk cheese.
I’m lactose intolerant too, and cheese is what I miss most. I’m curious about the goat cheese and sheep’s milk cheese; according to what I’ve read, goats’ milk and sheep’s milk have almost the same amount of lactose as cows’ milk. How is it that the cheese doesn’t have lactose? I’d be interested in any resources you could pass on because I’d love to be able to eat some cheese again!
I’m lactose-tolerant, but according to a Good Eats episode on cheese, most of the lactose is removed during the cheese making process, so that’s why most lactose-intolerant people can eat it. My g/f is Asian and very lactose-intolerant, but she can eat cheese with no problem. Ice cream (which she will eat when she gets the craving) does her no good at all, but cheese is usually fine.
That’s interesting. I know lactose intolerance is different for each person. Unfortunately for me, eating cheese (and ice cream) is like a death-wish, but I have read that cheese that’s made traditionally, aged 2 yrs., has nearly no lactose in it. That’s hard to find though. I haven’t heard that goat cheese and sheep cheese have less lactose. But perhaps most goat and sheep cheese are aged?
I actually have the GE episode on my TiVo (Cheese: Good Milk Gone Bad) and he says that cheeses that have a little age on them have had their lactose consumed by the bacteria so there’s little if any lactose left. I just replayed that portion for the exactish quote.
I think goat/sheep cheese is similar to cow in that it can be fresh or aged. I think Manchego has fresh and aged varieties. If you have a good cheese source nearby, you should be able to find well-aged (2+ years) varieties of cheddar at the very least. A Canadian, English, Irish, or Austrailian. All are very good.
I truly feel sorry for you, as I love a nice extra sharp cheddar, Parma Reggiano, etc.
And really, it’s not my intention to torture you. 🙂
Thanks for looking that up for me! I’ll have to test the waters the next time I’m feeling brave…:) I would LOVE it if I could eat some cheese again!
The only reason I eat goat and sheep milk cheese is because when my doctor told me I was LI, she said I could eat those. So that’s what I’ve been doing. I am very sensative to all cow dairy, but haven’t ever had problems with the goat or sheep cheese…
I haven’t tried Machego… I’ll have to look for it.
I first had Manchego at a tapas place near Phoenix on a cheese and fruit plate. I had no idea what I was missing. 🙂
oh my gosh! a fellow cheese junkie! haha
So I’ve been lactose intolerant since I went away to college… but I still enjoy most of my favorites. Lactaid works wonders!!! I carry the pills around with me all the time and enjoy most of the foods I love. Regarding the different milks, goats milk does indeed have lactose, it is just less than traditional cows milk so more people can tolerate it. I’m sure different processes in which you make cheese, etc could effect it, and everyone’s sensitivity is different as well. I adjusted quickly to Lactaid milk, and they have cottage cheese, ice cream (but i stick to the good ol’ stuff), and some other products I have yet to try. I urge fellow LI folks not to give up your (and my!!) favorite foods!!!
I found this website of sheeps cheese and it appears it is good for people with LI.
http://www.sheepscheese.com/
Yep! Sheep cheese is my friend for sure.
I am severely lactose intolerant but love food and cooking, so this has been a difficult adjustment for me as well. Parmigiana Reggiano is lactose free as well as; Grana Padano, all Finlandia cheeses including Muenster and Lappi. I use Lappi as a substitute for Mozzarella as it has similar texture and flavour. Muenster has worked well as a substitute for many cheeses as it has great flavour. There are some cheeses that I cannot tolerate such as mozzarella. Goat cheese does have lactose, but also has a protein in it that is different from that in cow’s milk. This makes it much more easily digestible and is great for those with lactose intolerance. Hope this is helpful! p.s. – I make my own ice cream by making creme anglaise with lactose free 2% milk.