Baked succulent shrimp coated with fresh basil pesto on wooden skewers. Delicious and amazingly creamy, these pesto shrimp skewers are great as easy to make appetizers.
You have got to try this recipe. I am seriously obsessed. There is no better word to describe my love for creamy pesto shrimp.
Juicy perfectly cooked shrimp coated with a creamy layer of pesto. On skewers. What’s not to like, right?
If I weren’t the sharing type, I’d have absolutely no problem eating this entire plate by myself. Unfortunately, my guilty conscience would nag at me if I didn’t.
I don’t know about you, but almost anything on wooden skewers just looks fancy to me. They seem like they require a lot of time and effort to put together. Luckily, looks can be deceiving. And you and I both know better. It’ll be our secret. We’ll let our guests think we worked super hard to make elaborate appetizers for them.
But you know what? As fancy as these pesto shrimp skewers look, it’ll take you just 15 minutes to prep, bake, and have these amazing appetizers ready to be served, if you have pesto on hand. And if not, well, it’s just another 5 minutes to whip up a fresh batch.
Sounds simple, doesn’t it? It so totally is. Because well, it really is quick and easy.
And I’ll have to share these at Fiesta Friday!
I don’t have an outdoor grill. Even if I did, I wouldn’t even know how to use it. I do, however, have one of those 4-in-1 electric grills. Except it’s such a pain to clean. I’d have to remove the grill plates, clean off any burnt residues, then reattach them. Not to say that I don’t use it once in awhile, but sticking a baking tray into the oven is just so much easier. Less of a hassle for me anyway. You’re welcome to grill these if you like =)
Preheat the oven to 350F. Lightly grease the surface of a baking pan with nonstick cooking spray or vegetable oil.
Lightly brush pesto on both sides of the large raw shrimp. I like putting the pesto on the shrimp before baking because the cheese (at least, the parmesan in my version of pesto) melts creating a creamy flavor. If you like the pesto a little bit grainier, you can bake the shrimp first and brush on the pesto later. It’s all about preference. You can either you my recipe for Fresh Basil Pesto or use your favorite recipe.
Bake the pesto covered shrimp on the baking sheet for about 10 minutes until the shrimp turns reddish pink and no longer gray.
Remove the baking sheet from the oven and allow the shrimp to cool for a few minutes before inserting the skewers. You’ll want about 4 shrimp per skewer. I chose to insert the skewers after the shrimp was already cooked because I wasn’t sure whether the wooden skewers would do well in the oven. If the skewers you use are oven safe, you can insert the shrimp on skewers before baking.
Serve the shrimp warm.
Enjoy!
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- 24 large shrimp, deshelled and deveined
- 2 tablespoons pesto
- 1 ½ tablespoon vegetable oil (for greasing the pan) or nonstick cooking spray
- Preheat the oven at 350F. Lightly grease the baking pan with nonstick cooking spray or vegetable oil.
- Brush pesto on all sides of the shrimp.
- Place the shrimp on the baking pan, and bake for about 10 minutes until the shrimp has turned a reddish orange color and is no longer gray.
- Remove the shrimp from the oven, and allow them to cool for a few minutes.
- Insert about 4 shrimps per skewer for a total of 6 skewers.
- Serve the shrimp warm.
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Hm. I love shrimp, and pesto. But I never thought of mixing both! These look delicious! Definitely going to try them over the week! Thanks for the idea! 🙂
I hope you’ll like them, Andrea!
Yummy! Well done! 🙂
Thank you!
This must be SO delicious! I will definitely try this recipe! Thank you.
Thanks, Elena! I hope you’ll like these!
Looks delicious! Have you thought about buying a nice ridged grill pan, if your grill is a pain. Once seasoned, you rarely need to use oil on it, and it’s probably the second most used thing in my kitchen, after my kitchen knife, which is so gorgeously sharp, I think it was crafted by Hattori Hanzo*. It’s an absolute lifesaver, and I rarely have to grill anything these days.
* Apologies for the terrible Kill Bill reference…
Thanks for the suggestion! I’ll have to look into a grill pan. It sounds so much easier to deal with.
These shrimps look amazing! As I can eat pesto with almost anything I’ll definitely try this one:)
I hope you’ll like these!
I know I will 🙂
Yummy!
Thanks!
Wow those shrimp look delicious! Your photos are awesome, too! I could almost print one of them out and eat that..hehe.
Thank you so much!
This looks amazing! Next time I have prawns in the fridge I will be trying these!
http://www.englishgirlturningparisian.com
I hope you’ll like these!
Nice!
This has reminded me of a Thai-style pesto I used to make, heavy on nuts and nut oils as well as Thai basil. I think I’ll have to resurrect that recipe a la Paleo and use it on some prawns as you do here.
Thanks for the idea…! 🙂
Oh my gosh! Thai style pesto sounds amazing!
They look great!
Thanks!