Capellini with garlic shrimp and homemade pesto

If you want to feed a crowd and please them, this is your recipe! Amazing! Of course, from one of my favorite Chefs ever (and the most handsome one --don't tell my husband I said so!) Curtis Stone.


Ingredients:


- For the Pesto:

1 1/2 cups (lightly packed) fresh basil leaves
1/2 cup pine nuts, toasted
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper


- For the Pasta:

12 cherry tomatoes on the vine (mine didn't have the vine)
4 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
9 ounces fresh linguine (I used capellini)
2 garlic cloves, minced
20 large shrimp, peeled and deveined
Parmesan shavings, for garnish


Directions:

To make the pesto: Grind the basil, pine nuts, and grated Parmesan cheese with your food processor. Slowly add the olive oil, grinding until a smooth sauce forms. Season the pesto with salt and pepper to taste. The cover and set aside.

Preheat the oven to 450ºF. Place the vine of tomatoes in an ovenproof skillet. Drizzle 1 tablespoon of the olive oil over the tomatoes, and sprinkle them with salt and pepper (I also drizzled some balsamic vinegar). Roast the tomatoes in the oven for 8 minutes, or until heated through.

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook, stirring occasionally to prevent it from sticking, until al dente.

While the pasta cooks, heat the remaining 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a medium saute pan over medium heat. Add the garlic and the shrimp and sauté for about 3 minutes, or until the shrimp are just cooked and the garlic is tender. Stir the pesto into the shrimp mixture.

Drain the pasta, reserving about 1/2 cup of the cooking liquid. Toss the pasta in a large bowl with the shrimp-pesto mixture, adding enough of the reserved cooking liquid to moisten the sauce so that it coats the pasta evenly.

Using a two-prolonged carving fork, swirl some pasta around the fork. Slide it off the fork, letting it mound in the center of a plate. Repeat. Arrange the shrimp and the roasted tomatoes around the pasta. Garnish with the cheese and serve.


**This is a variation of the dish: I used fetuccini noodles and topped with some bacon bites


Source: Relaxed Cooking with Curtis Stone