Yummy Lenten meal

I grew up Catholic, and while I don't go to church at the moment, old habits die hard. I find myself very focused on no meat on Fridays. If you go out to eat, especially in the Midwest, it's very common to see fish fries as the Friday special, most are all you can eat. I love a good grilled salmon fillet, or nice piece of rare-ish tuna (if it's of good quality) most of the time, but I found myself looking for inspiration this Friday for something that didn't cost too much to make. I had a bag of shrimp in my freezer, so I thawed that and tossed it with elbow macaroni in a parsley pesto recipe that I got from 30 Minute Meals' "Pop-sta Bar" episode. Having used this recipe before, I was pretty sure it was going to be good.

For the most part, parsley is very inexpensive, certainly much less expensive than basil (unless you grow your own.) Leaving out the pine nuts makes it even less expensive, and more allergen friendly. You can drizzle this sauce over chicken, fish, it's a great way to make a different kind of garlic bread (spread on the bread and bake until crispy), it's very versatile. It also whips up in a snap, so if you're pressed for time and want to wow someone with something a little more difficult than opening up a can or ordering take out, this is just the thing! Here's the recipe:

Parsley Pesto

2 cups parsley
3 oz jar or 1/4 c pignoli nuts (again, I leave these out)
1 clove garlic, cracked away from skin (I generally use 2, we love garlic in our house!)
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 tsp black pepper
1 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

Combine parsley, pignoli nuts, and garlic in food processor or blender. Process and stream in about 1/4 cup of the olive oil. Remove paste to a large serving bowl, stir in pepper and grated cheese. Add the rest of the olive oil, stir to combine.


Super easy! Now, there have been times that I've just dumped everything into the blender and it's turned out great, so don't worry so much about the steps, this is really a fuss free dish. It's done in the time it takes to boil the water for the noodles (unless you have a fancy induction cook top, in which case, it's done before the noodles are al dente!)



That's a shrimp there on the left. If you have a restaurant nearby called Noodles & Company, they have a dish called Pesto Cavatappi that can be easily replicated with this recipe, adding a little cream, some mushrooms, and tomato with cavatappi noodles. Personally, I'd leave out the cream, and any addition of veggies can only make it healthier.

Sorry for the unglamorous photo, it was a rushed dinner prep and I didn't get the chance to photo it before we ate, these are the leftovers. I'm surprised that little shrimpy made it for the leftovers ;)