Recipes

Pesto Tortellini with White Beans, Shrimp & Halloumi

Rich and flavorful, this pasta stew manages to be hearty without feeling heavy. If you’ve never worked with salty halloumi cheese before, you’re in for a treat. We use it as a grated accompaniment here, but we also love other dishes that put it on the grill or under the broiler.

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil
¼ medium onion, ⅛-inch dice (abut ½ cup)
2 cups chicken stock
1 tablespoon Armanino Creamy Garlic Sauce
2 (15.5 oz) cans cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
salt and pepper to taste
1 lb Armanino Cheese Tortellini
1 cup Armanino Basil Pesto
1 lb medium shrimp, peeled & deveined (21-25ct)
2 teaspoons fresh lemon zest, finely grated
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (from 1 lemon)
1½ cups finely grated halloumi (3.5oz)

Directions

Add the oil to a large, lidded sauté pan, and place over medium-high heat.
Sauté the onion with a pinch of salt until golden brown, 3-4 minutes.
Add the chicken stock, creamy garlic sauce, beans, crushed red pepper flakes, and a good grind of black pepper. Bring to a boil on high.
Turn the heat to medium so the mixture bubbles slowly then cover and cook for 5 minutes.
Remove the lid, stir in the frozen tortellini and bring back to a boil.
Add the shrimp, half the pesto and the lemon zest; bring back to a boil then turn off the heat but leave on the burner. Cover and let sit for 7 minutes. The shrimp should be tender and just cooked through, if not give it another 2-3 minutes.
Stir in the lemon juice and remaining half of the pesto then stir in roughly a third of the grated halloumi. Taste for seasoning and add more salt and pepper if needed.
Transfer to a serving bowl and sprinkle the grated halloumi over the top in a big pile. Serve with extra grated cheese and pesto on the side.

Chef’s Tips

To quickly defrost shrimp, place in a large bowl, cover with lukewarm water and let sit while you prepare the remaining ingredients. If you shrimp are whole and unpeeled, peel off the shell and make a shallow cut all the way along the outside curve of each shrimp. Remove the dark, thread like vein (if present), rinse and continue with the remaining shrimp.
Many cleaned peeled shrimp have the tails still attached. While it makes for a pretty presentation, it’s not the most convenient when it comes to eating the dish. Leaving – or removing – the tails is up to you.
Halloumi is a tangy, salty Mediterranean cheese traditionally made from goat and sheep milk, or a mixture of the two. It’s often served grilled or seared as it maintains its shape when heated but is also wonderfully salty grated over pasta dishes making it a nice alterative to parmesan.