Prawn Pesto Pasta

Pasta with pesto and prawns in grey bowl with lemon wedges and basil leaves.

5 from 3 votes

Prawn Pesto Pasta is a quick and easy recipe perfect for dinner any night of the week! With juicy prawns, homemade pesto and al dente pasta.

Prep Time10

Cook Time10

Total Time20

Course: Dinner

Cuisine: Italian

Keyword: prawn pesto pasta

Servings:

Calories: 868kcal

Author: Adrianne

Ingredients

Pesto

3 cups basil leaves leaves trimmed from stems, stems discarded, firmly packed, Note 1
⅓ cup pistachio nuts Note 2
2-3 cloves garlic Note 3
½ cup parmesan cheese finely grated using a micro plane zester, Note 4
⅓ cup/80 ml olive oil Note 5
2 tbs/40 ml lemon juice Note 6

Prawns

1 ½ tbs peanut oil Note 7
500 grams/1 pound prawns Note 8
¼ teaspoon salt Note 9
½ teaspoon black pepper

Pasta

500 grams/1 pound fusilli pasta Note 10
½ cup/125 ml reserved pasta water Note 11

Garnish (optional)

black pepper
parmesan cheese finely grated using a micro plane zester
lemon wedges
basil leaves

Instructions

Basil pesto: add the basil leaves, pistachio nuts, garlic and parmesan cheese to the bowl of a food processor and pulse to combine. Then remove the lid of the food processor and scrape down the insides of the bowl, keeping the pesto low to the bottom. Then drizzle in the olive oil, give it another pulse, remove and scrape down again and then add the lemon juice and pulse to combine. Once combined, use a spatula to transfer the pesto to a small bowl.
Pasta: read and follow the instructions on the pasta to cook it in a medium size bowl of boiling salted water. Moments before it is al dente (a little bit chewy) use a heatproof jug and scoop out 1-2 cups of the pasta water.
Prawns: start by twisting the heads off the prawns then pull the tails off and remove the shells. Next use a knife to cut along the back of the prawn and remove the digestive tract. Then repeat this process for the rest of the prawns.
Cook prawns: place a large sauté pan on the stove top, turn the heat to high and add the peanut oil. Pour in the peanut oil, add the raw prawns, salt and pepper. Cook the prawns for 3-4 minutes using a wooden spoon to move them around in the pan as you go. Once the prawns are cooked (bright orange colour with no white flesh) transfer them to a paper towel lined bowl.
Combine: without rinsing or cleaning the pan that the prawns were cooked in add the hot drained pasta and dollop in the pesto. Then measure and add in ½ cup (125ml) of the pasta water. Next take a wooden spoon and toss and stir till consistently combined. Once it is add the cooked prawns back to the pan and gently fold them in, allowing them to get coated in the pesto sauce and heat through.
To serve: garnish the pasta with black pepper, a sprinkling of parmesan cheese, some basil leaves and lemon wedges to serve. Portion into bowls and provide forks and spoons.

Notes

Note 1 - Basil: this is an excellent herb to use in a wide variety of recipes! We only need the basil leaves, so you can use kitchen scissors and trim the leaves and then discard the stems.
Note 2 - Pistachios: pistachios are an excellent nut to use when making pesto. Their vibrant green and purple colour combined with their robust form gives the pesto a little bit of additional texture.
Note 3 - Garlic: fresh garlic cloves are best for pesto! Use 2-3 and cut the little end bit off before popping them into the food processor.
Note 4- Parmesan cheese: freshly grated using a micro plane zester will give the best results. We use some of this to make the pesto and some to garnish the pasta when serving.
Note 5- Olive oil: the olive oil gets added to the pesto as the key ingredient to bind the other pesto ingredients together to form a paste.
Note 6- Lemon juice: bright and fresh, the lemon juice gives the pesto a little lift. Store bought bottled lemon juice or freshly juiced from a lemon will work.
Note 7- Peanut oil: we use this light aromatic oil to gently fry the prawns in a pan on the stove top. You can use olive oil in its place if needed.
Note 8 - Prawns: also known as shrimp for my American friends (shrimp pesto pasta). We do want to use fresh prawns which we peel and devein ourselves. The results prove that doing so is deliciously worth our time and efforts.
Note 9 - Salt and pepper: we use salt and a little bit of black pepper to season the prawns as we cook them. We also use black pepper to garnish the dish for serving.
Note 10 - Pasta: fusilli is the pasta of choice used for the recipe. The pesto literally clings to the spirals of the pasta. You can also see the plain pairing of this pasta and pesto in the Fusilli Pesto recipe.
Note 11 - Reserved pasta water: the best approach is to scoop out more than you need using a heatproof jug. Then when you are going to add it to the hot pasta, use a measuring cup and measure the ½ cup and then add this to the pasta.

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