Sweet Potato Noodles with Shrimp and Cilantro Pesto

Why We Love This Recipe For Sweet Potato Noodles with Shrimp and Cilantro Pesto

My favorite thing recently has been to make sweet potato noodles with a spiralizer. The noodles are tossed with cilantro pesto and topped with shrimp, peas and more cilantro pesto. The combination is so crazy flavorful and delicious. My daughters and I chowed down on this combo. They gave it two thumbs up and told me it was okay if I wanted to tag this recipe “kid friendly.”

They cook up in a little oil, just until they are tender, not falling apart. They are a healthy whole-food (and gluten-free alternative) to wheat or grain noodles when making gluten-free recipes and are so satisfying. Speaking of healthy pasta-alternatives, you could also cook spaghetti squash in the microwave for a quick and healthy “spaghetti”!

Key Ingredients For This Recipe

• Cilantro: Of course, you can make pesto with basil, and there are other offbeat varieties like kale pesto or cranberry pesto. But did you know that cilantro makes amazing pesto too? Whole fresh cilantro is necessary for the cilantro pesto. It’s okay to leave the stems on- they’ll get pureed.
• Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
• Pepitas: These are essentially just green pumpkin seeds.
• Parmesan
• Shrimp: You’ll need about 1 pound of thawed, peeled and deveined shrimp. I like getting wild-caught when I can!
• Sweet peas: Frozen sweet peas are fine here.
• Sweet potatoes: You’ll need 1-1/2 pounds of peeled sweet potatoes that have been cut into noodles with a 3-mm spiralizer blade.
• Seasonings: Lime, garlic, kosher salt, freshly ground black pepper.

Step-by-Step Instructions to Make This Sweet Potato Noodles with Shrimp

Step 1: Make cilantro pesto

With the motor running in the food processor, drop garlic through the feed tube and allow to process until minced. Open the lid and add cilantro. Cover and turn the processor on. Drizzle 2 tablespoons olive oil through the feed tube and allow to process until the mixture becomes paste-like, scraping sides as necessary. Add pepitas, Parmesan and ¼ teaspoon salt and process again, scraping sides as necessary, until smooth and pesto-like. Set aside.

Step 2: Cook shrimp

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large skillet over high heat. Add shrimp and cook, turning once until bright pink and cooked through. Add peas and pepper and stir to combine. Cook, stirring often until the peas are just heated through, about 1 minute. Remove from heat and stir in ½ of the pesto. Cover to keep warm.

Step 3: Cook sweet potato noodles

Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon oil over medium-high heat in a large straight-sided skillet or wide Dutch oven. Add sweet potato noodles, the remaining ¼ teaspoon salt and cook, gently stirring occasionally. Add 2 tablespoons of water to prevent it from over-browning as it cooks. Cook until wilted and al-dente, about 7 minutes. Remove from heat. Add the remaining cilantro pesto and gently stir to combine. Divide noodles among four bowls. Spoon the shrimp mixture over the noodles, dividing evenly. Serve the shrimp and sweet potato noodles with lime wedges.

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