My girlfriend refers to any pasta she makes as "Pesto-Pasta". Never has she used any other descriptive words with a pasta dish. Never a "Pasta with Fresh Peas and Proscuitto" or "Pasta with Bolognese Sauce", for instance. Only "Pesto-Pasta", as if pesto was the only companionable option for pasta! I can understand her bias for pasta with pesto. But the omission of the preposition "with" sorta bugged me. Pesto-Pasta rings like a fast food chain. Yet now when the family inquires about the dinner menu-I'm often answering "Pesto-Pasta"!

Tuesday's dinnerFeed supplied information on making and freezing basil pesto. That's the recipe I used in this dish. You'll find 3 brands of pasta in my cupboard: Locally-made Al Dente (all varieties), De Cecco #7 linguini and the Barilla-plus line of multigrain pastas. Al Dente pasta's light yet toothsome texture reminds me of the days I made my own fresh pasta from scratch. I can make a delicious dish of Al Dente Fettucine tossed with garlic, red pepper and Parmesan in 5 minutes flat!

De Cecco is an excellent commercial brand of Italian pasta, I particularly enjoy the linguine and spaghetti. The Barilla-plus line pleases my uber-health conscious husband. He likes the pasta because of its high fiber content, even though it has slightly more fat. I noticed the packaging label promotes it as "a good source of protein and ALA Omega-3". It's surprisingly good.

It's said to be bad luck if you break the pasta before cooking. I think that's a Chinese saying but I'm quite superstitious and would never consider breaking any pasta to fit into a pot. I prefer searing shrimp with grape seed oil. This heart-healthy oil has a very high smoke point, which allows the cook to sear over high heat without a lot of smoke. I'll delve more into smoke points in a future dinnerFeed.

I wonder if my girlfriend would eat pesto-pasta with the addition of shrimp?

Yield: 4 servings Cost: $16.00 (using $9.99# ad item shrimp) Time: 20 minutes (using pre-made pesto)

Ingredients

12 ounces egg linguini 2 tablespoons grape seed oil 1 pound peeled and deveined medium raw shrimp 3/4 cup pesto, homemade preferable* 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved

* See Tuesday's dinnerFeed recipe for "Putting Up Pesto"

Directions

1. Cook pasta according to package directions or until al dente. Reserve 1/4 cup water from pot. Drain the pasta but do not rinse. 2. Heat the grape seed oil over high heat in a large skillet. Lightly season one side of shrimp with kosher salt and freshly ground pepper. Add the shrimp to the skillet and sear two minutes on one side. With tongs, turn the shrimp over and sear an additional minute on the other side or until just cooked through. To insure a golden sear, do not shake or move the pan while the shrimp are searing. Keep the shrimp warm and covered. 3. Place the pesto in the pot with the reserved water and stir to combine. Place the pan over low heat and add the drained, cooked pasta and tomatoes; thoroughly combine and sauté until just heated through. Divide pasta on individual plates, top with seared shrimp and serve.