Meow Recipes

Monday, May 23, 2022

Pesto Shrimp and Parmesan Risotto

Pesto shrimp with risotto and a fork in a bowl

This recipe is sponsored by DeLallo

There are several things we could say and then just stop and you’d of course run to the kitchen with no explanation because YUM. Like, “creamy parmesan risotto” or “tender, juicy, garlic & lemon marinated jumbo shrimp” or “pan-seared and draped in a bright lush pesto.”

But honestly, what if all of that was part of the same dish and you were already head over heels about it?

It’s true, it’s true. The risotto is tender and rich and feels so special, the subtly sweet perfection of the quick marinated shrimp is sealed in with a golden brown sear. The pesto, oh the pesto…fresh, zippy, full of warm summer basil flavor. This one’s a treat.

Pesto shrimp in a bowl with risotto and a fork and a glass of white wine on the side

Ingredients You’ll Need For This Pesto Shrimp and Parm Risotto

Lots of simple yet strong flavors here to bring this gem together. You just know when you see a list including butter, garlic, Parmesan, and pesto that you are in for a REAL FUN JOURNEY AHEAD. Here’s what you’re grabbing for this:

For the Parmesan Risotto

butter
garlic or shallot (or both! yes, please)
arborio rice (DeLallo’s arborio rice is absolutely perfect for this!)
white wine
chicken broth
Parmesan cheese

For the Pesto Shrimp

jumbo shrimp
garlic
olive oil
salt
lemon zest (optional)
jarred pesto (we love DeLallo brand with our whole hearts!)
fresh juicy tomatoes (Roma or beefsteak are great)
fresh herbs for topping

The white wine offers a slight acidic element to balance the richness of your risotto, enhancing the flavor. But if you’re looking to skip it, you can just replace it with more broth plus a little lemon juice.

Sometimes people will also use unsweetened white grape or apple juice with a splash of citrus, a splash of apple cider vinegar, or white/red wine vinegar in place of wine in a recipe like this.

Let’s Get Cooking

There are a few steps to this one and though it is still quite simple, we’re dealing with risotto here, so speed isn’t the name of the game.

Marinate. Place the shrimp, garlic, 1 tablespoon olive oil, salt, and lemon zest in a bowl or plastic bag. Mix it all together so the shrimp is soaking up every bit of that flavor goodness. An hour or more is ideal but if you at least get it going while you cook your risotto, you’re still golden.
Risotto. Melt the butter in a large nonstick skillet and then sauté the garlic/shallots until soft and fragrant. Add the arborio rice, and stir to coat with butter. Splash in your white wine for sizzle time and then add your broth and play the stir-simmer-repeat game for a bit until soft and creamy. Finish with Parmesan, salt, and pepp.
Pesto Shrimp: Heat your skillet and olive oil over medium-high heat (if you’re using nonstick). Toss your shrimp and cook for a couple minutes per side, depending on their size. In the last minute or so of cooking, start brushing on that beautiful DeLallo pesto to coat the shrimp (don’t do this too early – we want to preserve that peak pesto yumminess!)

Then you’ll pile those juicy seared pesto shrimp on your bed of risotto. Add some bright pops of chopped fresh tomatoes and herbs, one more lemon squeezer across the top, and you are basically royalty. SO GOOD.

Different Ways To Cook Shrimp For This Recipe

Because we love the little, like, flavor seal™️ that the direct heat creates for the shrimp & pesto situation, our preferred methods for cooking the shrimp here are:

pan-fried in a nonstick skillet: That’s what we did here and it’s very, very simple.
grilled on a skewer: Grill weather abounds now, so you could also sear these jumbo beauties that way. Maybe you want to poke some cute little cherry tomatoes on there while you’re at it? We can’t imagine that would disappoint! 😍

Poaching is also definitely an option if that is your preferred method! We just can’t get enough of that sear over here though.

What To Look For When Buying Pesto

Have you met our truest best friend of pastas and jarred sauces, DeLallo? What dreamboats they are. Just, they never disappoint!

Sometimes jarred pestos can be kind of overly creamy and a dullish green, which can feel a little meh when you are hoping for wow. But DeLallo’s jarred pesto is much brighter, fresher, less creamy, and the flavor is definitely very wow.

It uses handpicked basil, olive oil, crunchy pine nuts & cashews, garlic, Pecorino Romano AND Parmigiano-Reggiano cheeses, so HELLO FLAVOR PARADE! Def recommend getting a few jars of this on hand for yourself.

And because pesto doesn’t require any kind of cooking/heating, it really, really is best to just use at the very end of cooking to maximize all of its fresh flavors!

Instead, just a hefty swath over that hot seared shrimp and all that olive oil, bright fresh basil, zippy garlic, creamy pine nut, and Parmesan flavor just soars into your hearts and tastebuds.

Things To Serve With This Pesto Shrimp

We really, really recommend the MEGA yummy Parmesan risotto here. We used the authentic Italian arborio rice from DeLallo and it really just makes this dish. There’s nothing like it!

Other options for serving, if you’re wanting to play a game of mix-and-match with this meal, include:

Simple Green Salad (a go-to in all seasons)
Creamy Orzo (the orzo part of this recipe is 10/10, easy, and would go perfectly with the shrimp)
Favorite Browned Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies (if you need something epic to end the meal)

Pesto Shrimp and Parmesan Risotto: Frequently Asked Questions

Can I use something else in place of shrimp?

Pesto-brushed scallops would also be a delicious choice here! You can read more in this recipe about how we like to sear scallops.

What kind of herbs do you recommend for this dish?

Parsley, chives, or basil would be really, really good choices and pair well.

How creamy should the risotto be?

For the risotto, when in doubt I’d recommend erring on the side of more liquid to get a creamier texture!

Pesto Shrimp and Parmesan Risotto

Author: Lindsay
Total Time: 45 minutes
Yield: 4 servings

Print Recipe

Description

Tender, juicy, garlic-marinated shrimp brushed with a bright pesto sauce and piled high on creamy Parmesan risotto with fresh tomatoes and herbs sprinkled on it all. Wow wow wow! Diving in now!

Ingredients

Units

Parmesan Risotto:

1 tablespoon butter
1 clove minced garlic or 1 minced shallot (or both)
1 cup DeLallo Risotto Arborio Rice
1/2 cup white wine (sub chicken broth + a little lemon juice)
3-4 cups of chicken broth
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
optional: tiny drizzle of truffle oil

Pesto Shrimp:

1–2 pounds jumbo shrimp (shells removed and tails on or off, whatever you prefer)
2 cloves garlic
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
zest of 1 lemon (optional)
1/4 cup DeLallo jarred pesto
1–2 roma, beefsteak, or any kind of fresh juicy tomatoes, chopped
herbs for topping

Instructions

Marinate the Shrimp: Place the shrimp, garlic, 1 tablespoon olive oil, salt, and lemon zest in a bowl or plastic bag. Mix it all together so the shrimp is coated with all that flavor goodness. Stick it back in the fridge to let it marinate while you make the risotto (for about 1 hour, if you can).
Make the Risotto: In a large non-stick skillet over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the garlic or shallots and saute for a minute or two, until soft and fragrant.
Add the arborio rice, stir to coat with butter. Add the white wine and enjoy the sizzles. Add the broth, 1/2 cup at a time, and simmer/stir after each addition until the rice is soft and creamy.
When the risotto is done, add the Parmesan and stir until incorporated. Add truffle oil if you want (omg it’s so good). Salt + pepp to taste.
Make the Pesto Shrimp: Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat (I use nonstick for this). Add the shrimp and cook for 2-3 minutes on each side, depending on their size. Brush the cooked shrimp with the pesto for the last 60 seconds or so of cooking.
Serve risotto topped with those juicy pesto shrimp. Speckle some chopped fresh tomatoes around in there and top with herbs or something delicate and green (I used microgreens in the photo). Salt, pepper, a little more lemon juice and you’re in a very happy place.

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Category: Dinner
Method: Sauté
Cuisine: Italian-Inspired

Keywords: pesto shrimp, risotto recipe, parmesan risotto

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Thanks to DeLallo for sponsoring this recipe!

More Recipes For Pesto Lovers

Life-Changing Crispy Fried Pizzas (light, airy, and perfect for summer)
Instant Pot Minestrone Soup (perfect for a rainy spring day)
Pesto Asparagus Noodles (yes, shaved asparagus as noodles and it’s so good)

The post Pesto Shrimp and Parmesan Risotto appeared first on Pinch of Yum.

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Monday, May 16, 2022

Strawberry White Chocolate Cookies

Does one ever say no to a perfectly soft but still chewy, very BUTTER-FORWARD cookie? What about one with chewy bright little bits of strawberry and silky-sweet white chocolate chips? Now that we have your attention…

OMG WHAAAAAT THESE ARE SO GOOOOOOOD.

Just, so good. They’re (maybe overly) large, they’re melty, and they’re all your favorite cookie textures. The freeze-dried strawberries used for these get so pleasingly chewy as they soak up the butter while baking, putting raisins-in-cookies to absolute shame (depending on your deeply held beliefs about raisins in baked goods, might be too late for that). The white chocolate is the richest and creamiest with its very sweet sweet beautifully balanced with the strawberries’ tart tart.

Have we mentioned how good?

In This Post: Everything You’ll Need For Strawberry White Chocolate Cookies

Ingredients for These Cookies
How to Make Strawberry White Chocolate Cookies
What to Know About Freeze-Dried Strawberries
More Uses for Freeze-Dried Strawberries
Make-Ahead and Freezing Instructions
Cookie Variations
Strawberry White Chocolate Cookies: Frequently Asked Questions

Ingredients For These Strawberry White Chocolate Cookies

First things first, let’s get your heart and grocery list ready for these buttery disks of joy. Here’s what you’ll need:

salted butter (unsalted could work too, but salted is really a treat here!)
light brown sugar
granulated sugar
egg
vanilla
flour
baking soda
salt
freeze-dried strawberries
white chocolate chips (Loved Ghiradelli best! ALDI’s were also good. Nestle wasn’t a fave but they’d work!)

Grab your cookie sheets, your parchment paper, all your hopes and dreams, and get ready for something special.

How To Make These Delicious Cookies

Here’s how they come together. We went all-in for about 9-12 giant cookies for this recipe but, of course, if you want to do sweet dainty little baby cookies instead of our jumbo ones, go for it!

Cookie batter. Combine the butter with the sugar until creamy. Next, egg and vanilla; mix until just combined. Add the dry ingredients and mix until just combined then fold in the white chocolate chips.
Crush the strawberries. Gently crush the pieces by hand into small chunks. Careful not to crush all the way into a powder. Fold those strawbs into the dough!
Roll and bake. We rolled them into about 9-12 larger dough balls and placed them on a parchment-lined baking sheet to bake for 9-11 minutes.

We veer on the side of under-baking (about 9ish minutes), so when you pull them out, they will be a little puffed. RESIST EVERY URGE IN YOUR SOUL and let them sit for just a few minutes so they can sink. You will be rewarded with soft, dense, tart-sweet little buttery medallions that will make you cry real tears.

What To Know About Freeze-Dried Strawberries

So here’s the deal on these little freeze-dried babies. They are a dream of a cookie add-in because they soak up moisture (read: all that delicious butter) and turn into buttery chewy little wonder bits. And who are we if not someone who appreciates a good butter vehicle? But because they soak up the moisture, it is important to not use too much flour!

A word on the flour. We recommend spooning the flour into the measuring cup to get the amount right so you don’t get cookies that are too puffy! You want them to be able to sink and get dense/soft/chewy/dreamy.

Gently crush into chunks, not powder. They will turn the cookies grey if you have too much of a powder (a little powder is unavoidable and totally okay!).

Can I use fresh strawberries? We wouldn’t! They’d be too wet. But if you try and get a different outcome, do let us know!

Where do I find these magical things? We have often found them at ALDI and Target, usually near all the other dried fruits. You can also order them on Amazon (affiliate link).

Strawberry white chocolate cookies with freeze-dried strawberries in a dish

Other Uses For Freeze-Dried Strawberries

Well, now that you have a bag of these bad boys and are already sitting down enjoying a batch of these cookie greats and thinking, “Where else can I use these little gems?”, might we suggest…

plopped into a bowl of warm oatmeal
stirred into your yogurt for a different texture berry
you an overnight oats champ? we have an idea for you…
added to cold and creamy smoothie

Also, please do not underestimate just what weird and wonderful little snackers they are, so eating them by the pinchful is acceptable!

Make-Ahead Instructions

Do you have some people to wow after dinner next week or do you just want to have something ready to go when you inevitably at some point in the future wander into your kitchen at 10pm thinking “Ugh, why aren’t there cookies?!”

Well, here’s the solution:

Make the dough, roll it into balls and then freeze! That way they are ready to pop on the pan and bake whenever your heart shall call to them. Just give them a couple extra minutes of bake time from frozen.

If you want to bake them and not jump immediately on the bake-and-eat-all train like we do, you can keep them in an airtight container for a few days and they will still wow. (You could also store fully baked in the freezer the same way, and then maybe give them a quick zap in the microwave for your soft, buttery, enjoyment.)

Strawberry white chocolate cookie dough rolled into balls on a sheet pan

Variations On These Cookies

We’d like to take this opportunity now to just cheer you on to run forth into the night and make every variation on these you can! Obviously, you’re already thinking of trying these with freeze-dried raspberries, us too! Would a freeze-dried blueberry with a little zip of lemon zest in there be spectacular? We haven’t tried this yet, but doesn’t it sound like a dream?!

Could you skip the fruit bits altogether and just do a white chocolate chip cookie? Yes, for sure. But then you might find yourself thinking, “You know what these need? Little tart chewy bits of bright buttery strawbs. That sounds amazing!”

And then, well, you know…you’ll find yourself right back here. Repeat, repeat, repeat.

Strawberry White Chocolate Cookies: Frequently Asked Questions

My cookies turned out pink! Is this expected?

Yes! The color of the cookies is slightly different from regular cookies because of the color from the strawberries. When you take them out of the oven, they can have a pink or even grey-tinted look to them. That’s normal! The grey color gets more intense as more “strawberry powder” gets mixed into the cookies which is why it’s a good idea to just crush those strawberries gently when you add them in.

Can I make these with fresh strawberries?

Sadly, no. Your cookie dough batter will turn out too wet and the cookies won’t turn out very well.

Can I use other freeze-dried fruit options?

Sure can! Freeze-dried blueberries or freeze-dried raspberries would be delicious!