Spring pasta's ala Giada

Who doesn't love Giada De Laurentiis and all her Italian flair she brings to her cooking shows and recipes.  Makes me wish I was a little more ethnic! I would just settle for being able to say things with her perfect Italian pronunciation.  What can I say, I have accent envy! You know what else I envy??? Nice weather, spring, sunshine, flowers, walks outside, the list goes on and on.  Instead of March coming in like a lion and going out the like a lamb, the lion went crazy, trampled the lamb and is bull-dozing it's way right through April.  Snow, sleet, rain and hail, oh my! Michigan is such a crazy state of unpredictable weather.  In fact as I type this our house is being pelted and our porch is full of pea-size hail.  Sigh.   Well as much as we are trying to be patient waiting for Spring I know that we can at least have Spring in our kitchens and on our dinner plate.  Giada recently did a Spring Pasta bit on the Today show and demonstrated three pasta dishes with Spring flavors.  I love me some pasta and my girls literally can't get enough of it.  I especially enjoy when I can still get these comforting carb foods I love and have them be light and healthy.  With a few minor adjustments by yours truly I can make her recipes a little more WW friendly and I am in pasta heaven.  I am going to attempt to make and share all three with you, I did the first one this week.  My changes are in italics.

Shrimp with avocado arugula pesto linguine

Ingredients

• 1 pound linguine pasta (make it whole wheat baby!)
• 2 medium avocados (about 12 ounces total), halved, peeled and seeded
• 3 cups (3 ounces) baby arugula leaves
• 1 packed cup fresh basil leaves (about 1 ounce)
• 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice (from 2 large limes) + 3 Tbsp bottled lime juice + lime zest
• 4 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 cup (4 ounces) grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 cup sliced almonds, toasted (see note) Or I used pine nuts, 1 Tbsp per dish
• 1 pound shrimp or you could use chicken

Preparation

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 8 to 10 minutes. Drain and reserve about 1 cup of the pasta water. Place in a serving bowl.

To make the pesto, use a spoon to scoop out the flesh from the avocados and place the avocado in a food processor. Add the arugula, basil, lime juice, garlic, zest, salt and pepper. Blend until smooth.

Add a little salt pepper and garlic to your shrimp or chicken and grill until cooked.

Pour the pesto over the pasta and toss together. Add the cheese and shrimp (or chicken) to pasta and toss again. Top with toasted almonds or pine nuts.

Note: To toast the almonds, arrange in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake in a preheated 350-degree F oven for 6 to 8 minutes until lightly toasted. Cool completely before using.

Serving Size

4 to 6 servings. I made it 7 servings because the box of pasta said it had 7 servings in it.  Prep time: 8 minutes. Cook time: 8 to 10 minutes.

I added the extra garlic, lime juice and zest because I had already read a review that said it could use a little more and I agreed.  I added shrimp because my husband refuses to eat a vegetarian meal and I love him so I add meat to things to keep him happy (and I love shrimp so yea!) My girls go nuts for the creamy goodness of avocados and let's face it so do I so obviously I was drawn to this recipe, it's a great twist on pesto for me and did have the spring flair that I was wishing for.  Thanks Giada, you Italian cooking diva!  The best news was it was a lovely dinner of 7 servings for 12 pts each serving and I made this beauty to go with it....

A beautiful fruit salad!

(No cantaloupe - another way I show love to my man!)

Big beautiful colorful bowl full for only 1 pt because I added a little sugar to the fruit to get the juices flowing. 

It may seem more like delayed winter outside but in our house we will celebrate Spring! Hope this pasta can add a little spring to your step today!