I realize that after Labor Day everyone basically stops wearing white and gears up for Pumpkin season - but I'm a rebel and I don't subscribe to that notion! So I'm opting for some Grilled Shrimp with Cilantro Pesto and a side of grilled bread!!
It still feels like summer here in LA so I'm soaking that up until October. So....let's start with the grilled bread. Have you had it before? It basically makes any slice of bread the best thing you've ever tasted. Clearly, I have a thing for it. Just give your favorite loaf a thick slice, liberally drizzling it with olive oil and then grill it until it's just toasty! Perfection.
Then you've got the shrimp. I skewered all the shrimp and then drenched them in some lemon juice, olive oil and some cilantro sauce and let them marinate for a bit. The flavor is gonna be off the charts.
Once the grill is ready, everything gets slightly charred and smoky and then finished with some extra lemon juice and more cilantro vinaigrette! Â 100% perfection.
Alternatively, if you've put away the grill for the season, this entire recipe could be done on an indoor grill pan over medium high heat!
Check out some of my favorite Shrimp Recipes here:
Grilled Shrimp and Bread with Cilantro Pesto
Ingredients
For the Cilantro Sauce
- 1 shallot roughly chopped
- 2 cups tightly packed fresh cilantro leaves stems removed (about 4 ounces)
- 1 clove garlic
- ½ teaspoons red pepper flakes
- ½ cup olive oil
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon salt
For the Grilled Shrimp and Bread
- 2 lbs medium shrimp peeled and de-veined
- Wooden skewers soaked in water or metal
- 1 loaf of bread sliced into 1 ½ inch pieces on a bias
- 1 lemon juiced
- 1 teaspoons red pepper flakes
- kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper
- olive oil for drizzling
- 3 lemons halved and grilled
Instructions
For the Cilantro Sauce
- Combine all the ingredients in a high powered blender and blend for 60 seconds until very smooth. Taste and adjust salt and pepper as needed. Serve immediately. Or you can refrigerate the vinaigrette for up to 5 days.
For the Grilled Shrimp and Bread
- Thread about 6 shrimp on each of the soaked wooden skewers and set them on a large plate of cutting board while skewering the rest.
- Drizzle about â…“ of the vinaigrette over the skewered shrimp along with the juice of the lemon, red pepper flakes and some salt and pepper. Set the shrimp aside to marinate for about 10-20 minutes while you prepare your grill.
- Arrange the thick slices of bread on a large platter and drizzle liberally with olive oil.
- Prepare your gas or charcoal grill to medium high heat. Place the pieces of bread over the heat and grill for a few moments on each side until the bread has grill marks. Using a pair of tongs, flip the bread over and let the other side grilled for a minute or so more until both sides have nice grill marks. Remove the bread from the grill and set aside.
- Place the shrimp skewers on the grill over medium high heat and grill for about 2-3 minutes on each side until the shrimp are pink. Remove the skewers from the grill and set aside.
- Serve the shrimp and bread with the remaining cilantro vinaigrette and grilled lemon halves.
I recently bought a new grill - a Vision ceramic kamado grill from Costco - and I LOVE it .. it's similar to the big green egg - but it's black - and much better value ... pricey - but such a wonderful grill... it can be used as a grill, a smoker, an oven ... extremely versatile - here's a forum where you can read about kamado cookers kamadoguru.com - they have a number of forums
This is going in my rotation too!!!
I love how this looks! I need to get over my fear of raw shrimp. 🙂
Looks great Gaby! On your grill question, I've had a Weber Performer for 19 years and absolutely love it. There's a gas ignition system to light the charcoal so it's as convenient as a gas grill. If you have any questions about it let me know. http://www.amazon.com/Weber-1411001-Performer-Charcoal-Grill/dp/B00645513G/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1370451432&sr=8-3&keywords=weber+performer
THANK YOU~!!!
This is seriously perfect for summer! I have a serious obsession with grilling bread - delicious!!
Great summer recipe!
This looks amazing. I have a Big Green Egg. It's pricey, and you have to use hardwood charcoal, but it will get smoking hot for grilling, or you can set the temp low and slow and smoke pork butts for 18 hours. I absolutely love it. It's actually really easy to use.
Wow! This looks like the PERFECT weekend dinner! It screams summer! So flavorful - can't wait to try this.
I love grilled shrimp but have never thought to drench them in pesto!! YUM
this is SO perfect for the grill!!!
I am drooling on my keyboard....
I would skip the bread, but the shrimp looks great!
Such a perfect summer recipe!!
I could get into this one for summer. Looks yummy!
I'm a vegetarian but my fiance would love this recipe & I'm loving the pesto recipe! I might use the pesto recipe tonight instead of my store bought pesto (I'm a very novice chef) - I was planning on cooking pasta with pesto, potatoes, and green beans. Definitely pinning this for the future! Love your blog; I'm a new follower!
Thanks Mya!!