One Pot Pesto Pasta (with oven baked shrimp)

If you’re looking for something light and fresh, that also feels comforting and indulgent, then this one pot pasta recipe is for you!

Single pot pasta is our go to recipe

We absolutely love making one pot pasta. In fact, if you stick around, you’ll see we make a new one almost every week! Over time, we have learned that cooking everything in one dish not only saves time but it significantly enhances the flavor of the recipe.

Pasta is an incredible food, in our opinion. The fact that it is shelf stable for a long period of time makes it easy to keep handy and it’s a dish almost everyone enjoys! But in order to cook dried pasta, you need to rehydrate it.

Most often, recipes call for cooking pasta in heavily salted water. If you skip the salt, your pasta will turn out to be bland despite how flavorful your sauce might be. This is because most of the seasoning of the pasta itself happens during the rehydration process.

And that, our friends, is why we LOVE the concept of one pot pasta.

Cooking pasta in broth instead of water, alongside all of the ingredients and seasoning allows the uncooked pasta noodles to absorb all that flavor while it is cooking. The pasta also releases gluten during the cooking process, which helps thicken the sauce.

This flavor hack is our favorite reason one pot pasta is a part of our weekly meal rotation, but it isn’t the only reason! In addition to making the dish extra tasty, it also makes the dish extra easy to make AND clean up. How often do you cook and only have one dish to clean??

Treat yourself to an easy clean up! And if you love this one pot pasta method as much as we do, be sure to check out our top 5 favorite one pot pasta recipes here.

What is pesto?

If you have never had pesto before, we are here to tell you it is pure magic! You can buy it already made at any grocery store, or you can follow our recipe for fresh basil pesto.

Pesto is an Italian sauce that originated in Genoa, a town in Northern Italy. The primary components are basil, pine nuts, garlic, parmesan cheese and olive oil. Although you can easily make dairy free pesto by omitting the parmesan cheese!

We personally love to make this recipe in the summer, when fresh basil is at its prime.

You can store fresh pesto in the fridge or in the freezer. Ideally you will want to store it in an airtight container for 3 days in the fridge or up to 3 months in the freezer. To make defrosting easy, try freezing the pesto in silicone ice cube trays so you can pull out just what you need!

What kind of pasta to use for this recipe

While you can’t go wrong with any shape of pasta for this recipe, we think that oversized shells (called Gnocca) is the best! The shape of these shells is perfect for picking up sauce and making for a truly authentic experience.

You can get the exact ones we use from TerraMar, an online grocer that sources products from around the world. The pasta we are using for this recipe is made in Italy in the Grangnano Pasta Factory and uses fresh local ingredients.

Is one pot shrimp pesto healthy

The short answer is yes!

While this recipe is super simple, it is a great source of protein and an easy way to sneak in some veggies without compromising flavor. The spinach wilts into the pasta so well that you can hardly tell it’s there. And spinach is an incredible source of plant based iron and protein!

We also like to use shrimp as the protein for this dish, which is naturally lighter than most other animal based proteins. It carries a low fat content and calorie count. While you may not want to eat shrimp every single day, as it is higher in sodium and carbohydrates, it is a healthy way to diversify your meals.

How to make one pot shrimp pesto

1. Pour the pasta shells (or pasta of your choice) into a deep dish pot. Ideally you want to use a pot that has a compatible top or cover.
2. Add the cherry tomatoes, and olive oil on top. Follow that by seasoning with salt, pepper, oregano and thyme.
3. Pour the broth over these ingredients and bring the liquid up to a boil over medium high heat. Cook the pasta for 9-11 minutes, or until the texture of the shells reaches al dente.
4. Next, turn off the heat and add a heaping spoonful of pesto, heavy cream and one cup of spinach. Mix everything together while the pot is still hot – this will allow the spinach to naturally wilt without getting too soggy.
5. Serve immediately in your favorite pasta bowl. Top with baked shrimp (or sautéed) and shaved parmesan cheese.

How to make baked shrimp

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. In a bowl add thawed and dried shrimp. Toss with olive oil, salt, pepper, paprika, chili powder, and garlic. 
3. In a large sheet pan add shrimp in a single layer. Bake for 10-13 minutes or until cooked through (pink and opaque).

One Pot Pesto Pasta (with oven baked shrimp)

Food Dolls

This one pot pesto pasta is loaded with fresh spinach, pesto, and parmesan cheese! Made with a side of baked shrimp!

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Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 13 minutes mins

Total Time 28 minutes mins

Course dinner, lunch, meal prep

Cuisine American, Italian

Servings 8 people

Calories

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 1 lb uncooked pasta shells (or your choice of pasta)
• 1 cup cherry tomatoes
• 2 tsp lemon olive oil (or extra virgin olive oil)
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 4 cup low sodium vegetable broth
• 1/4 cup prepared pesto
• 1/3 cup heavy cream
• 3 cups fresh baby spinach

Baked Shrimp

• 1 lb large raw frozen shrimp (21-25 per pound (thawed))
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 3 cloves minced garlic

Instructions

 

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
• In a large bowl add thawed shrimp. Add olive oil, salt, pepper, paprika, chili powder, and garlic. Toss until all the shrimp is coated.
• In a large sheet pan add shrimp in a single layer. Bake for 10-13 minutes or until cooked through (pink and opaque). Set aside.
• Pour the pasta shells (or pasta of your choice) into a deep (4.5 qt) pot.
• Add the cherry tomatoes, salt, pepper, oregano and thyme. Pour the broth over these ingredients and bring the liquid up to a boil over medium high heat.
• Cook the pasta for 9-11 minutes, or until the texture of the shells reaches al dente.
• Next, turn off the heat and add a heaping spoonful of pesto, heavy cream and spinach. Mix everything together while the pot is still hot – this will allow the spinach to naturally wilt without getting too soggy.
• Serve immediately in your favorite pasta bowl. Top with shrimp.

Video

Keyword baked shrimp pasta, creamy pasta recipe, one pot pasta recipe, one pot shrimp pasta, pesto pasta

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