How to Make Shrimp Pesto

In ten minutes, you can have a great dish, have some cooked shrimp on the side. We’re going to make a version of pesto. Now, what we’re doing we’d take in a pesto and we’re going to add some mint to the basil instead of using Parmesan cheese, we can use Feta Cheese. Fresh herbs as long as you picked them off the stem and just use the leaf. You actually have a better flavor than just using the stem. It’s fresh mint and fresh basil. Now you have sweet basil. You have opal basil. It depends on the flavor that you’re looking for and then the profile, you can go to pineapple basil, orange basil, choco basil if you actually want to think a little bit more outside the box than I do. Now, fresh herbs, you’re going to mix it into a food processor, very simple. You’re going to mix it. You’re going to add the extra virgin olive oil. Extra virgin olive oil was one of those items that is very pungent and very full of flavor. So you have to be careful how much you actually going to put into it because think about olives. You have olive oil, you have blended oil then you have the extra virgin, use the extra virgin but be careful. Now, what I’ve done, I put a little twist on it again. I’ve infused an extra virgin olive oil with some Rosemary, how do you do that? Take the extra virgin olive oil, put it into a pan, fresh Rosemary obviously washed and dry it so there’s no water in it. I’ll put some garlic into it and some whole pepper corns that are cracked. Bring it to about 145 degrees for about an hour and a half. You have to control the temperature. If you go beyond that you’re actually going to burn the Rosemary and impart a bitterness into the oil. You don’t want that. You have smooth oil that has a Rosemary flavor. If you cook it real slow, the natural oils of the Rosemary extract out of the leaf and mix with the oil very easily. Now, a bit of Feta cheese, fresh garlic, and some pignolis. Pignoli is just a pine nut. Now, pine nut it comes from pine cones. You can shake a pine cone in the forest, you hear them rattle, take them, pop them open, take them home, pull them out of the host, roast them and you’re good to go. Now, let’s make the pesto. Take your food processor and take your mint and basil. I have about four cups here. The more the herb the more the flavor, just pack it in. Now, put the cover on, close the lid, and make sure the lid locks. Make sure you know where your fingers are. I still have all ten so it’s very simple, just pulse it on and off, there you go, almost ready. Now, you can pack it all in one time but if you’re actually doing two stages, you’ll have a better flavor and you ensure that everything is ground the way you want it. It is important when you use fresh herbs, pick them off, wash them, get all the water off. You don’t want the water and a warm temperature of the room to wilt the herbs. You want to keep them fresh, pulse it, done. Now, in the machine that I’m using, I’m actually using a serrated blade that actually cut through the items instead of slicing it. It just braids and cuts it and then moves on. I want to take some Feta cheese. I’m going to put the Feta in. I’m going to take some pignoli which is pine nuts. Now, pesto has to have garlic. You’ve got to have that flavor. Now, how much garlic? That’s up to you guys. It’s a personal taste because at a certain point when you eat too much garlic it actually becomes acidic. They’ll actually burn the palate. You don’t want to burn the palate. At this point, we’re going to season it, a little bit of salt, and take a little bit of fresh black pepper. Always use fresh pepper because you know that it was ground just now. You don’t know out of the can it was ground 10 years ago. Now, extra virgin olive oil and Rosemary infused olive oil. What I’m going to do, you always going to add, you never can take out. So, I put a little bit in, put the cover on, pulse it, you want them to puree together. You wanted to get to a paste consistency. At this point, look at it, take your spoon. Always wipe down the edges because some particles will naturally rise at the top and if you don’t stir it back into the pestle it will stay at the top. So when you go un-mold them and put it into a serving utensil. You’re going to have whole leaves of items that you don’t want, right? You want to puree it. Now, comes the oil, the Rosemary infused oil. Now, at this point, you have to use your palate and you want to be able to taste it. Does it need more oil? Does it need more garlic? Does it need more salt? That’s good and a little bit more pine nuts and a little bit more salt. You know what’s great about working with Feta cheese? It actually gives sweetness to it instead of a strong, sharp flavor that you’d be accustomed to and actually it mellows it up and put sweetens it up. I’m going to add a little bit more oil, put it on, pulse it all together. Now, you want the pesto be fluid but not runny. Its’ going to be able to coat something. At this point, it’s just about ready and you stir it around. Make sure everything is incorporated, a little bit more seasoning. Now, let’s talk about salt, how much salt you’re going to put in? Now, when you’re working with salt, I used a Kosher salt. A Kosher salt is one of those salts that are a less refined products. The more you refine a product, the more intense it’s going to taste. So I use a lesser refine product. I prefer to use Kosher salt or a sea salt. It comes right out the ocean. Now, we put that in, a little bit more pepper, a little bit more oil, and you’re good to go. Now, it’s beautiful green, all the pieces are nice and pureed, nice and smooth. It’s not runny but it’s not gluey per se. It’s very good. Now, let’s talk about presentation. Presentation is everything. We all eat with our eyes before we actually sample the food. Take the time to think about how it’s going to look to the guest. How you’re going to present it? What china and what unique item you can always use to enhance that presentation. Always remember, think outside the box. There you go, put one under the tray, think about the simple presentation, take some tomatoes if you want, sprinkle it around just for a little bit added extra color and texture. A little bit of extra acidity because think about cooking, It doesn’t matter if it’s hot or cold. There are four simple flavors that are on the palate, sweet, sour, bitter, and salty. If you’re able to accomplish achieving all four different flavors that the palate can enjoy on one dish, that dish is going to be phenomenal. If you missed one item, it’s okay. Take the time, think it through. Think about the sweetness, the bitterness, the acid and the textures because all we think about textures too, a crunch off against the soft. The dish is going to be great. How is that everyone? Great!