Grilled Shrimp with Cilantro Pesto

By ebdonahue

Ingredients

• 1 bunch fresh cilantro
• 1/3 cup walnuts
• 2 cloves garlic
• 3 ounces olive oil
• 1 lemon, juiced
• kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper to taste
• 1 lb medium shrimp, peeled and de-veined
• 6-8 wooden skewers, soaked in water
• 1 loaf of bread (I used an asiago bread from my local bakery) sliced into 1 1/2 inch pieces
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 1 teaspoons red pepper flakes
• kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper
• olive oil for drizzling

Details

Servings 1
Adapted from whatsgabycooking.com

Preparation

Step 1

In a blender or food processor, combine the cilantro, walnuts, garlic and olive oil and blend until a pesto like consistency is formed. Taste and add lemon juice and season with salt and pepper. Blend for another few seconds until incorporated. Remove the pesto from the blender and set aside until read to serve.

Thread about 5-6 shrimp on each of the soaked wooden skewers and set them on a large plate of cutting board while skewering the rest.

Drizzle about 1/3 of the pesto over the skewered shrimp along with the juice of the lemon, red pepper flakes and some salt and pepper. Set the shrimp aside to marinate for about 10-20 minutes while you prepare your grill.

Arrange the thick slices of bread on a large platter and drizzle liberally with olive oil.

Prepare your gas or charcoal grill to medium high heat.

Place the pieces of bread over the heat and grill for a few moments on each side until the bread has grill marks. Using a pair of tongs, flip the bread over and let the other side grilled for a minute or so more until both sides have nice grill marks. Remove the bread from the grill and set aside.

Place the shrimp skewers on the grilled over medium high heat and grill for about 2-3 minutes on each side until the shrimp are pink. Remove the skewers from the grill and set aside.

Serve the shrimp and bread with the remaining cilantro walnut pesto sauce and extra lemon wedges as needed.

Notes:
I like to grilled some extra lemons too! Just halve the lemons, throw them on the grill until they get some nice charred markets and then remove them for later!

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