foodie friday: sun-dried tomato pesto pasta w/shrimp

I haven't blogged a Foodie Friday post in a long time what with posting more food related articles over at Zoup to Nuts. Can you say, "Too many irons in the fire"? Photos at Click! Food at Zoup to Nuts. But this blog was my first baby and I should probably make an attempt to do what I used to do - i.e., blog with some consistency.

So here's a good recipe I had lurking about (the original date in my draft file was October 2008, so "lurking about" is an understatement), but hadn't made for a while. Tonight I had pretty much everything on hand with the exception of a shallot and a well-priced white wine. For those missing ingredients I subbed in red onion and an outrageously priced white wine from my former wine club. Hey, they say if you're gonna cook with it, you should also be willing to drink it.

This recipe is simple, easy and delicious. It goes together quickly and works well for a weeknight meal where you don't want a lot of prep work. Unfortunately, it's so yummy there probably won't be leftovers for the next day. Then again, double up the ingredients and guarantee a home cooked meal in your office the next day.


Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto Pasta w/ Shrimp

Ingredients:
8 oz whole grain linguine (or pasta of your choice)
1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 shallot, minced (red onion is fine if you don't have a shallot in the pantry)
1 lb. shrimp, peeled & deveined (about 18 large)
1/4 cup white wine
1/4 cup chicken stock
3-4 Tbsp sun-dried tomato pesto (see recipe below)

Preparation:

Cook pasta until al dente according to package directions.

In the meantime, saute shrimp and minced shallot in olive oil until done(about 2-3 minutes). De glaze pan with white wine.

Add the chicken stock and reduce by half. Add the sun-dried tomato pesto and cook for about 1 minute. Return the cooked pasta to the pan and serve.

Sun-dried tomato pesto

Ingredients:
2 medium garlic cloves, peeled
1/4 c sun dried tomatoes
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
10 fresh basil leaves, washed and dried
Preparation:

Place garlic cloves, sun dried tomatoes, and basil leaves in food processor or chopper. Stream in olive oil while pulsating until the mixture has the consistency of a fairly thick paste. Increase olive oil if you want a thinner consistency.

Bon Appetit from The Valley of the Sun.