The easiest most delicious pasta salad you will ever make! This bruschetta shrimp pasta is a healthy filling dinner that can be enjoyed hot or cold!
Hi, friends! You may remember this recipe from my day in the life post last week. After I tested it for the blog, I loved it so much I decided to make it with chicken, and I took it over to a friends house who just had a baby.
I also made a second batch for me, so it’s fair to say that I’m obsessed with this recipe, which as I mentioned the other day, barely qualifies as a recipe. But, I guess I’ll let you guys be the judge of that. For today’s post I’m going to do more of a recipe tutorial style post, at the end you guys can tell me if you the step by step shots or not!
Start by cooking your pasta! Water takes a while to boil, so I started that first, then I went on to the rest of the recipe. I used chickpea pastabecause it’s higher in protein and fiber than normal pasta. It does have a slightly different taste though, so when I made it for our friends I usedbrown rice pasta. instead. While the pasta is doing its thing, get started making the shrimp.
Since I live in AZ, all seafood has been previously frozen. I prefer to buy the already frozen stuff and defrost it myself. To defrost the shrimp just put it in a pan over medium heat, stirring frequently. When it’s still grey but mostly defrosted, drain the excess water. Then you add oil and all your seasonings. (PS for the chicken for my friends, I made a pound of chicken tenders with the same seasonings.)
Confession time! This is the first time I’ve cooked raw shrimp in my life. I almost always use the precooked stuff, and I don’t know what I was thinking! The taste difference using raw shrimp was remarkable. So much fresher and so much more flavor, I still can’t believe I’ve been missing out all this time. Especially with something so easy to cook!
The last thing you have to do is slice your zucchini half moons. A task I quickly took care of while the water was still trying to boil and the shrimp were defrosting.
Once you have those three things ready (zucchini, shrimp, and pasta), you can throw them into a large serving bowl. I’ve always loved this super cheap bowl I got at Ikea for serving meals when friends and family come over, or in this case to take blog photos with.
Now to dress it up! I used my latest and greatest Trader Joe’s obsession, premade bruschetta sauce. If you don’t have a TJ’s near you, I feel your pain, I’m spoiled now, but for a long time I was not. Luckily you can grab a similar jar off TJ’s bruschettaAmazon.
First, I dumped in about a cup of the sauce straight on top of the pasta, zucchini, and shrimp. Then I ended up straining some of the remaining chopped tomatoes out of the bruschetta sauce to top my plate for garnish.
Mix it up and devour! I ate mine cold because it’s super hot in AZ and I can’t eat anything hot in temperature (spicy is still good). Mr. Hungry heated him up in the microwave, and it was just as delicious. Our friends did the same thing with their chicken version, she ate hers cold, and he ate his hot. I topped mine with red pepper flakes and parmesan cheese, because why not? Here is a real-life shot (versus a pretty styled one) of me about to dig into my pasta.
That’s it! Definitely let me know if you give this one a try, it’s DELICIOUS!
You May Also Like:
- Five Ingredient Pasta with Sausage and Spinach
- Brussel Sprouts & Bacon Chickpea Pasta
- Healthy Carbonara Pasta Recipe
- Spinach Mac and Cheese
You May Also Like These Shrimp Recipes:
- Sheet Pan Sweet and Spicy Shrimp
- Baked Coconut Shrimp
- Cajun Shrimp Deviled Eggs
- Easy Chimichurri Shrimp
- Creamy Chipotle Shrimp
- Stupid Easy Shrimp Tacos
- Shrimp Enchilada Spaghetti Squash Boats
- Mu Shu Shrimp
Bruschetta Shrimp Pasta
Ingredients
- 8 ounces chickpea penne pasta
- 1 lb raw shrimp tail off or on, frozen or fresh
- sprinkle garlic powder
- 2 tbsp avocado oil
- sprinkle lemon pepper
- sprinkle fine sea salt
- 2 medium zucchini
- 1 cup Trader Joe's Bruschetta Sauce Trader Joe's
- grated parmesan optional
- red pepper flakes optional
Instructions
- Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain the water and set the pasta aside.
- For frozen shrimp: add shrimp to a pan on medium-high heat. Once almost defrosted but not cooked, drain the water. (If using fresh raw shrimp or pre defrosted skip this step.)
- Add two tablespoons avocado oil to the pan and toss shrimp in the oil.
- Sprinkle shrimp with garlic, lemon pepper, and salt. Let good for 3-4 minutes before turning shrimp and sprinkling the other side with the seasonings. Shrimp is done when it is cooked all the way through. The shrimp will be a nice pink color. It won't take more than 10 minutes at the max, usually closer to 5-6 minutes.
- Remove shrimp from the heat and set aside.
- Wash and cut zucchinis into half moons pieces.
- Combine pasta, shrimp, zucchini, and bruschetta sauce. Serve hot or cold! I topped mine with grated parmesan and red pepper flakes, but you do you!
Nutrition
Italian Chicken Sausage with Brown Rice Pasta
Don’t forget to pin this recipe for later and follow @hungryhobby for more healthy recipes, quick workouts, and nutrition tips!
I love shrimp! OMG I can’t believe you have never had it raw. That’s the only way to go.
I know I’m such a cooking lame-o sometimes, new cooking techniques, even easy ones, are always scary for me!
Great!!