Seafood Pesto Penne with Carmelized Onions

Alright, the recipe title is a mouthful!  It is also a yummy mouthful.  I finally made it to Trader Joe's over the weekend.  I say finally because living on an island without a TJs I don't usually make the trek to the mainland just to go there.  While I was on the other side of the water, I picked up some of my favorites: brown rice penne pasta, pesto, kalamata olives, and TJ's frozen seafood mix (shrimp, calamari rings, bay scallops).  This recipe was the result, something I thought that the kids would also enjoy.  And they did.  It would be especially delicious with homemade pesto or nettle pesto.


Seafood Pesto Penne with Carmelized Onions
Serves 4

Brown rice penne pasta (Trader Joe's) or any penne pasta
1/2 package of Trader Joe's Seafood Blend, or 1/2 pound of shrimp, Calamari, or Scallops
4 oz of pesto
1-2 heads of broccoli
1 large white onion
pitted Kalamata olives, a few handfuls
olive oil for cooking

Begin by heating a cast iron pan on medium heat.  When the pan is hot, add a dash of olive oil and chopped onions, stir occasionally to evenly brown them.  Cover.  Begin to boil water for penne pasta.  Follow directions on package, set aside when done and mix pesto in with noodles.  Start adding pesto conservatively, and add more as needed.

When onions are browned and softened, add chopped broccoli stir and cover.  Stir occasionally to evenly cook.  When the broccoli is about halfway done add the seafood.  Stir occasionally until seafood and broccoli is done to your liking. The seafood cooks quickly.

Serve pesto noodles with stir fried onions, broccoli and seafood.  Top with some kalamata olives.

Buon appetito!

Nettle Pesto

 Stinging Nettle Pesto

It is that magical time of the year that inevitably surprises me with the lush green of spring and the abundance of nature.  Now is the time to begin foraging for wild edibles!  I picked a sack full of nettle leaves to make nettle pesto today.  The end result was amazing!  I'd like to share it with you as well as some other food combining and menu ideas.  I have made nettle pesto before, and to refresh my memory on the ingredients and amounts I visited Fat of the Land, a great Seattle blog that posts recipes made from foraged food in the pacific northwest.  Fat of the Land has many delicious recipes that you can easily make at home using wild plants in your backyard (depending on where you live).

Nettle Pesto
adapted from Fat of the Land
~2 cups blanched nettles (2 cups worth after having blanched and then squeezed out all the water and chopped) or about 8 cups of fresh (approximate)
~1/4 cup pine nuts
~1/4 cup walnuts
~1/2 cup olive oil
~1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
~2 TBS fresh lemon juice
~2 cloves of garlic (less if you don't want a garlic-y flavor) 

Preparing the Nettles:
Use heavy gloves to pick the nettles.  Pick the top most, healthiest looking leaves.  I don't bother to pick any stems because I only use the leaves anyway.  In a large pan bring about 1/2 inch of water to a boil.  Measure out 8 packed cups worth of leaves and put them in the boiling water.  Blanche them for 1 minute then pour out the remaining water.