Recipe: Baked Shrimp and Orzo

Can you believe it? Me, cooking with shrimp?!? I hardly believe it myself, but you know what, it wasn't that bad, and the meal was good! This was the second dinner I cooked from Cooking for 2, another one skillet meal (which Matt likes for the easy clean up).

If you know me at all, you'll remember that I don't like mushrooms, and I'm not a big fan of seafood. Sure, I've eaten fish and chips, and popcorn shrimp, but those are all battered and deep fried, so I don't really count them as real seafood dishes. But you might remember that Matt and I did cook lobster at our cooking class, and we liked it, so we thought we'd give shrimp a go. 

An interesting side story, during my time living over in Sweden, there was an annual summer tradition celebrating the good weather and good friends. The meal is always the same - shrimp or crayfish, new potatoes, and pickled herring. Well, needless to say, I ate a lot of potatoes during those celebrations (oh, I might have even barbecued up a hot dog when no one was looking), but something I really enjoyed, oddly enough, was peeling the shrimp. There was just something about it that I quite enjoyed... 

OK, back to this cooking adventure, which it really turned out to be. We wanted to get fresh shrimp for this dish, and so we headed to the fish market in Kensington. That was truly an experience! I had never been into a fish shop, so I wasn't sure what to expect, and perhaps that made me unprepared for what we did discover. We walked in to a small shop, flies buzzing about, the strong stench of fish in the air, and two large men chopping the heads off of fresh fish behind bins of fresh sea food. Not really what I was expecting. After waiting for a woman to haggle over 3 fish heads, we got our pound of shrimp and were on our merry way, thankful to be back in the fresh air outside again. 

As for cooking up the dish, it was really simple, and not only did I cook with shrimp for the first time, but also orzo, a small oval shaped pasta, not unlike rice (plus, the extra orzo makes a great lunch with just butter and Parmesan cheese). I chopped up all my ingredients and put them into separate small bowls (just like they do on real cooking shows). When following a recipe for the first time, I find it helps to have everything ready to go, and, to be honest, it kind of makes me feel like I have my very own cooking show to host. Don't worry, I haven't gotten the point where I actually talk to my "viewers"...yet. 

The finished product? A delicious blend of pasta, tomato, shrimp, and cheese... yum!  

INGREDIENTS

1 pound of shrimp, peeled and deveined

1 tbsp olive oil

1 small red onion, minced

1/2 red bell pepper, cut into 1/2-inch pieces

3 garlic cloves, minced

1/4 tsp dried oregano

1 cup orzo

1 1/2 cups chicken broth

1/2 cup drained canned diced tomatoes

      1/4 cup juice reserved

2 ounces feta cheese, crumbled (about 1/2 cup)

2 scallions, sliced thin

DIRECTIONS

PREHEAT oven to 400 degrees. Pat dry shrimp and season with salt and pepper. Cover and refrigerate while preparing orzo.

HEAT oil in ovensafe skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Add onion, bell pepper, and salt and coo until vegetables are softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in garlic and oregano and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in orzo and cook, stirring frequently, until the orzo is coated with oil and lightly browned, about 4 minutes.

STIR in broth and reserved tomato juice and bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally until orzo is al dente, about 10 - 12 minutes. Stir in shrimp and tomatoes, then sprinkle with cheese and bake until shrimp are cooked and cheese is lightly browned, about 20 minutes. Sprinkle with scallions and serve.