Pesto, Prawn and Spinach Salad

A community recipe by JohnJJMartin

Not tested or verified by Nigella.com

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Introduction

I drool over this dish every time I read about it, hear of it, see the jars of pesto in my cupboard or simply think about it - I'm drooling now. You can serve this on a bed of cous-cous, or boil up a pan of bow-tie pasta and tip it into the green sauce, mix together and serve for more bulk. You can leave out the peas if you want to limit the carb intake and replace with spinach or prawn...either is perfect. I have done this with chicken breast as well simply cooking the chicken beforehand slowly, seasoning it with salt and pepper and olive oil. Chop up the chicken as you like and mix in to replace the prawns. If you come up with your own variation, let me know so I can chow my way through it.

Ingredients

Serves: 4

1 packet spinach (a large packet, washed)
1 packet shrimp (a large packed - cooked, shelled and cleaned)
2 packets pinenuts
2 jars of green pesto
2 cups frozen peas
1 small hot chopped finely red chile (seeds and all - use a large one if you want extra heat)
4 cloves minced garlic
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Parmesan cheese (a small wedge)
1 lemon (juice of - half if you prefer)

Method

Pesto, Prawn and Spinach Salad is a community recipe submitted by JohnJJMartin and has not been tested by Nigella.com so we are not able to answer questions regarding this recipe.

In a shallow decent sized pan, toast the two packages of pine nuts till they are golden and slightly charred. Set aside to cool.

In a bowl pour hot water from a recently boiled kettle over your frozen green peas. Drain and set aside when thawed.

In a decent sized sauce pan, heat the olive oil enough to infuse the minced garlic and chilli. Once the garlic has softened and making sure the chilli isn't burning, lower heat and add the two jars of pesto. Turn heat back up to a low simmer.

Once simmering, add the pine nuts, peas, and shrimp. Then add the spinach turning it into the green prawn sauce a little at a time till it all wilts down. Cover to speed up the wilting process if you're as impatient as me.

Warm through and turn out into a serving bowl. Squeeze out the lemon over your dish, crack some black pepper for taste and sliver the parmesan to complete.