Pasta GIVEAWAY and Lemon Shrimp in a Spinach-Basil Pesto !!!

I am finally back from a long and wonderful vacation. While I was gone the springtime breezes turned into summer's sweltering heat. Heat like this means dinner will be much lighter fare for us. A light and flavorful pesto pasta dish fits the bill nicely. Lucky for me, Amalia from Garofalo Pasta sent me a free sample of their amazing pasta for me to try out.

 Now, one of the perks of a food blog can be that sometimes people want to send you things to review. I'm all for it. But I just want to let you know that, other than a free bag of pasta, I'm not being paid for a good review.

 I am going to give them one anyway. Garofalo pasta is delicious. It has that slightly nutty flavor with a great chewy texture that real Italian pastas have. It's the pasta you cook with when you have company coming over. It's the pasta that can stand on it's own in a dish. I'm in love. Now, Amalia tells me that you can buy this at Costco for a comparable price to other pastas. I don't have a Costco near me, so I am going to take her word for it. If you have a Costco near you, pick some of this pasta up and give it a try.



Of course, if you are feeling lucky, you can enter the Garofalo Pasta Giveaway! Garofalo Pasta is giving away a CASE of assorted imported Garofalo Pastas. The box you receive will look something like this:

Here's what you need to do to enter:

Leave a comment on this post and tell me about your favorite pasta dish! You must also be a follower ( if you are not already) and don't forget to leave a contact email so that I can notify you if you are the big winner!





If you blog about this giveaway, comment again with a link and be entered twice!





This contest will end at midnight on Monday, June 28th. Good Luck to everyone!!!



USA Only









Oh! and here's the recipe to try with your next bag of Garofalo Pasta!





Lemon Shrimp with Spinach-Basil Pesto





1 pound of peeled and deveined shrimp ( I used a 51-60 count)

1 pound of pasta

2 cups of loosely packed basil leaves

2 cups loosely packed fresh spinach leaves

1 T pine nuts

1/3 cup grated parmesan

2 large lemons

4 cloves of garlic, minced

extra virgin olive oil, about 1/2 cup, more or less

salt and pepper





Whisk together the juice of the lemons, 2 cloves or garlic, and salt and pepper.



Whisk in just enough oil to form an emulsion, about 3-4 Tablespoons. 

Toss the shrimp in to marinate and set aside.





Put your water on to boil. In a food processor, combine spinach, basil, remaining garlic, the zest of one lemon, pine nuts, Parmesan, and a couple of tablespoons of oil. ( my cheese here isn't grated. I couldn't find my stinking grater)

Pulse until pureed. Add in a couple more tablespoons of oil to form a smooth pesto. Salt and pepper to taste.





Cook and drain the pasta. 

While pasta cooks, quickly saute the shrimp in a hot skillet, just until they have turned pink, about 3 minutes.

 Then combine the pasta, shrimp, and pesto together.

 Sprinkle with additional lemon zest and Parmesan cheese and serve!