A quick and easy, yet elegant dinner entree, Seafood Campanelle with Spinach Pesto is perfect for weeknight or special occasion dinners.
I love dinners that are fancy and easy at the same time, more so if it can be ready quickly. This Seafood Campanelle with Spinach Pesto is definitely one of them. Part of the reason it was so easy for me was that I used a Tuscan seafood medley that I found at Walmart that had shrimp, clams, and mussels in it. This isn’t a sponsored post, but if I find a product that I love, I have to share it with you. This seafood medley comes frozen, and you don’t have to defrost it before cooking. The clams and mussels open quickly without overcooking the shrimp, perfect! If you can’t find it, it’s easy enough to purchase equal amounts of shrimp, clams, and mussels. Scallops would probably be good in this recipe as well if you don’t like one of the ingredients. I myself am a little iffy with mussels sometimes, but these were good.
Seafood Campanelle with Spinach Pesto
Campanelle pasta was perfect for the spinach pesto sauce I made. It seeps into the pasta and makes it delicious yet not too heavy. This recipe makes more pesto than you will need, unless you want a really thick sauce. Save the leftovers for another use. I chose to combine the pesto with the lobster broth and white wine I used to simmer the seafood medley in to thin it out and make it even more flavorful. If you would like a thicker pesto just start with a smaller amount of liquid and adjust from there. I can find lobster broth right next to the clam juice in my local grocery store, but if you don’t have any, clam juice or seafood stock would work just as well. That’s another great thing about this Seafood Campanelle with Spinach Pesto, most of the ingredients can easily be changed based on the type of things you have on hand or like.
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- 3 packed cups baby spinach
- 2 cups olive oil
- 2 large cloves garlic, minced
- 3/4 cup shredded Parmigiano Reggiano cheese
- 2.25 ounces pine nuts
- 1 pound campanelle pasta, cooked to al dente and drained according to package directions
- 2 packages Tuscan seafood medley (or about 9 ounces each frozen clams, mussels, and shrimp)
- 1 cup dry white wine
- 8 ounces lobster juice, substitute clam broth or seafood stock if desired
- 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
- Cook the pasta and drain, keep warm in the cooking pot.
- Combine the baby spinach, olive oil, garlic, Parmesan cheese, and pine nuts in a blender or food processor; blend until smooth, set aside.
- In a large skillet combine the seafood medley, white wine, lobster juice and black pepper. Cover and heat to a boiling over high heat, stirring occasionally. Once the clams and mussels have opened reduce the heat to low, add 1 cup of the spinach pesto and simmer for about 2 minutes.
- Combine the cooked seafood medley with the broth in the pot with the cooked pasta, mix well. Serve immediately.
Adjust the thickness of the sauce easily by reducing the amount of lobster broth and white wine, or by adding more pesto. Cover and refrigerate unused pesto. Use within 5 days.
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