Roasted Shrimp and Orzo

This recipe is a perfect summer dish, full of succulent shrimp, crunchy cucumber and onion, tangy feta, and spiced perfectly with dill and parsley.  It can be served either chilled or at room temperature.  Best of all, it makes a lot, so a little bit of cooking time ensures you’ll have enough for a crowd of friends or for several meals for your family.

My friend Kelly originally shared this recipe with me back in 2007 from the Barefoot Contessa and I adapted it to my taste.


Roasted Shrimp and Orzo

3/4 lb orzo pasta
6 T lemon juice
1/4 cup EVOO  (plus more for orzo water and drizzling shrimp before roasting)
2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
2 lb fresh shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 cup minced scallions
1 cucumber, peeled, seeded, and diced
1/2 cup red onion, diced
Fresh dill to taste
Fresh parsley to taste
6 oz diced feta

1.  Cook orzo in boiling salted water with a splash of EVOO for 9 minutes.  Drain and put into a large bowl.  Whisk together 1/4 cup EVOO, lemon juice, salt, and pepper and pour over hot pasta.  Stir well.


2.  Place shrimp on a sheet pan, drizzle with EVOO, and sprinkle with lemon pepper to taste.  Toss to combine and spread out in a single layer.  Roast for 5 minutes or until shrimp are cooked through.  (Mine were done in 4 minutes.)



3.  Add shrimp to orzo and then add scallions, cucumber, onion, dill and parsley.  Toss well.  Add feta and stir carefully.  Refrigerate for at least an hour to let flavors combine. 


4.  Enjoy!



I recently brought shrimp back from our OBX vacation and froze it to use for recipes like this one.  During our five days without power we were able to borrow a generator from a kind neighbor for several hours a day to save the food in our deep freezer.  The effort of getting the generator and the expense of buying gas was well worth it to have a scrumptious dish like this to enjoy.  I had to throw out a lot of food but we were determined to save our shrimp and beef and we did!



We’ll have this for dinner and hopefully will enjoy leftovers later this week on a picnic at the lake.

Sharing With:
Home Stories A2Z, Savvy Southern Style, Stone Gable, Kristen's Creations, 2805, At the Picket Fence, Serenity Now