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You can't beat a pasta dinner night. There is something so warm and comforting about whipping together some noodles, spooning a rich sauce over your dish, and topping it with your meat of choice.

Pasta tastes so good going down, but after you finish, you might feel prone to over-fullness, bloating, or even a sudden nap at the dinner table. So how about putting together a pasta recipe that equally satisfies, but leaves out the empty carbs and gluten?

Our recipe begins with a zoodle—or a zucchini noodle. All you have to do is spiralize a whole zucchini or two, sauté the freshly-spiraled zoodles in a pan for about two minutes, and ta-da! You have a low-calorie, gluten-free form of pasta! It's a game-changer for health-conscious pasta lovers.

This pesto shrimp "pasta" takes about 30 minutes total before you are pulling out your chair and picking up your fork.

I highly recommend taking the extra five minutes to make your own pesto, but I am very impressed with Costco's bottled pesto. It works if you are in a pinch for time or feel too hungry to tinker with a food processor.

Happy zoodling!

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Ingredients:

(Serves: 2 | Time: 30min)

- 2-3 zucchini (if you do not own a spiralizer, you can buy pre-spiraled zoodles at the store, ready to go!)

- 2 Tbsp. olive oil

- 2 cloves garlic, minced

- ½ sweet onion, diced

- 12 large shrimp, peeled and deveined

- ½ cup pesto

- ½ lemon

- parmesan cheese (or dairy-free alternative)

- fresh basil

- salt and pepper, to taste

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Instructions:

1. Using a spiralizer, peel the zucchini into zoodles. Place the zoodles into a strainer, sprinkle with a little salt, and let them sit for 5-10 minutes while you cook the shrimp. (This step helps drain any water out of the zucchini so that you do not end up with watery pasta).

2. Heat a pan over medium heat and drizzle with olive oil. Add the minced garlic and onion and allow them to sauté for about a minute, or until they turn golden.

3. Place the shrimp into the pan and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook for 2-3 minutes on each side—make sure they are fully cooked, or pink, when you take them off.

4. Once the shrimp are done cooking, transfer them to a plate and add the zoodles into the pan. Cook for about 2 minutes, or until the zoodles have softened slightly.

5. Spoon the pesto over the zoodles in the pan, along with some lemon, parmesan, and basil. Add the shrimp back into the pan, toss the zoodles one last time, and serve!