Shrimp Pasta with Broccoli Pesto

Week three hundred. Another milestone. Another number that makes me stop and count the years — five years and forty-eight weeks of standing in this kitchen, typing with one finger, telling you about the food and the life and the people and the loss and the love. Three hundred weeks of "Now go on and feed somebody." I have said that sentence three hundred times. I have meant it every single time.

I want to mark this one differently. Not with a meal — I mark everything with a meal, that's the default — but with a truth. Here is the truth of week three hundred: I am happy. Not the giddy happiness of a young woman, not the relieved happiness of surviving, but the settled happiness of a woman who knows who she is and what she's for. I am for feeding people. I am for telling stories. I am for standing at the stove and making something from nothing and handing it to someone who didn't know they were hungry until they tasted it. That's my purpose. It took me sixty-six years and three hundred blog posts and a dead husband and a published book and a great-grandmother on Sapelo Island to figure it out, but I figured it out. I'm here. I know why.

Kayla came over and we cooked together. She makes shrimp and grits without my help now — the timing is right, the grits are smooth, the butter is adequate (still not enough, but closer). She doesn't overcook the shrimp anymore. She salts the water properly. She stirs the grits with patience instead of impatience. She is becoming the cook I hoped she'd become, and watching her is like watching the tomatoes grow — slow, inevitable, beautiful.

I made shrimp and grits. Week one was shrimp and grits. Week 100 was shrimp and grits. Week 200 was shrimp and grits. Week 300 is shrimp and grits. The same dish. The same woman. Different seasons, different griefs, different joys. The recipe stays. I transform.

Now go on and feed somebody.

I don’t always have the grits on hand, but I always have shrimp — and on a week like this one, shrimp is what the moment calls for. Kayla stayed for supper after we cooked together, and I wanted something that honored the tradition without being identical to it, something that said “same woman, different season.” This shrimp pasta with broccoli pesto is exactly that: the shrimp I’ve been cooking for three hundred weeks, dressed in something green and alive and a little unexpected, the way growth tends to be.

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 20 min | Total Time: 35 min | Servings: 4

Ingredients

1 lb large shrimp, peeled and deveined
12 oz linguine or spaghetti
3 cups broccoli florets
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving
1/4 cup toasted walnuts or pine nuts
3 cloves garlic, divided
1/4 cup fresh basil leaves
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, divided
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
Salt and black pepper to taste
1/2 cup reserved pasta water

Instructions

Cook the pasta. Bring a large pot of well-salted water to a boil. Cook pasta according to package directions until al dente. Before draining, reserve 1/2 cup of pasta water. Drain and set aside.
Blanch the broccoli. Add broccoli florets to the boiling pasta water during the last 3 minutes of cooking, or blanch separately until just tender and bright green. Drain and transfer to a blender or food processor.
Make the broccoli pesto. To the blender with the broccoli, add 2 cloves garlic, basil, walnuts, Parmesan, lemon juice, and 3 tablespoons olive oil. Blend until smooth, adding 2–3 tablespoons of reserved pasta water to loosen. Season with salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes.
Cook the shrimp. Heat remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add remaining garlic clove (minced) and cook 30 seconds until fragrant. Add shrimp in a single layer, season with salt and pepper, and cook 2 minutes per side until pink and just cooked through. Do not overcrowd the pan.
Combine. Reduce heat to medium-low. Add drained pasta to the skillet with the shrimp. Pour broccoli pesto over the pasta, tossing to coat. Add reserved pasta water a splash at a time until the sauce reaches a silky, cling-to-the-noodle consistency.
Serve. Divide among bowls, top with extra Parmesan, a squeeze of lemon, and a pinch of red pepper flakes if desired. Serve immediately.

Nutrition (per serving)

Shrimp Pasta with Broccoli Pesto — The Dish That Marks Every Milestone