Pesto Shrimp Cucumber Rolls

If your shrimp haven’t been cleaned, pull the tails off and run the tip of your knife into the curve of the shrimp to pull out that weird dark stringy thing. Toss in a couple generous pinches of salt and mix them around.

Heat the butter/oil over medium heat in a medium skillet. Add garlic and cook for about 1 minute. Add shrimp to skillet and cook until shrimp has just barely turned pink all over. It only takes a few minutes. Remove from heat and let them cool for a few minutes.

Place the shrimp in the food processor with the avocado, pesto, and lemon juice. Pulse until everything is chopped finely and combined thoroughly. Taste, and adjust salt as necessary. You may want this slightly salty to compensate for the cucumber coming later.

Cut the ends off the cucumber, then slice them as thin as you can with a mandoline slicer. Spread about 2 teaspoons of the shrimp filling onto 3/4 of each cucumber slice. Starting at the filling end, roll it up and secure with a toothpick. You should have 16-18 cucumber rolls.

Chill until ready to serve.

Notes:
1. If you’d like to make this dairy-free you can make your own basil pesto and simply leave out the cheese. Just combine 2 cups of basil leaves, 1/3 cup pinenuts, 2 cloves garlic, 1-2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, and salt to taste in a food processor. Pulse to chop finely. While the machine is running, pour in 3/4 cup of extra-virgin olive oil. Process until smooth.
2. Don’t make these more than 2-3 hours before you eat them. They’ll start to get watery.