Thursday, June 18, 2009

Rachael Ray's Sunset Orzo with Shrimp and Sausage

This recipe comes from Rachael Ray's website and was also in her magazine. If you read often, which I know a lot of people do because of the wonderful comments you guys have been leaving, you know I love orzo. This meal uses a lot of stuff I regularly have in the pantry and freezer.

Ingredients: (serves 4)

* Salt
* 1/2 pound orzo pasta
* 2 pinches saffron threads
* 1 cup chicken broth
* 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO)
* 1/3 pound Spanish chorizo, chopped
* 1 onion, chopped
* 1 small red bell pepper, chopped
* 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
* 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
* 1/3 cup green peas
* 1 pound medium shelled and deveined shrimp
* 1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
* 1 teaspoon sweet paprika
* Juice of 1/2 lemon

Directions:

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil, salt it, add the orzo and cook until just al dente. Drain and cover.
2. While the pasta is working, in a small saucepan, steep the saffron in the chicken broth over low heat.
3. In a medium skillet, heat 1 tablespoon EVOO, 1 turn of the pan, over medium heat. Add the chorizo and cook until browned, 2 minutes. Add the onion, bell pepper, garlic and turmeric and cook for 5 minutes. Stir in the peas.
4. In another medium skillet, heat the remaining 2 tablespoons EVOO, 2 turns of the pan, over medium-high heat. Add the shrimp and cook until pink and firm, 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in the parsley, paprika and lemon juice; season with salt. Remove from the heat.
5. Pour the saffron broth over the chorizo and vegetables. Add the orzo and toss for 2 minutes. To serve, top the orzo with the shrimp


Start boiling some water and lets gather our ingredients.




You need some peas, saffron, orzo, chicken broth, chorizo or sausage, onion, red bell pepper, garlic, turmeric, shrimp, parsley, paprika, and some lemon.




Chop up the shallots or onions. I love shallots so that is what I used.




Chop your garlic.




Chop the red pepper. Get your Orzo in the boiling water while you continue making the rest of the meal.




Get the saffron into a sauce pan with the chicken broth over low heat.




Keep an eye on your orzo as it will cook quickly.




While all of that goes on cook up the sausage or chorizo in some olive oil for about 2 minutes.




Add in the onion, pepper, garlic and turmeric and cook for 5 minutes.




Stir in the peas. If your shrimp is not cooked, grab yet another pan and get those cooking for 2-3 minutes. Drain your orzo and set aside.




I used cooked shrimp so I just tossed mine in the broth to warm through.




I added the shrimp, broth, parsley, paprika and lemon juice into the pan where my veggies were. Stir in the drained orzo and you are ready to eat.




This was a tasty and colorful meal that is a great way to use up some things in your freezer and pantry. I just want to say thanks again for all the wonderful comments and emails.

8 comments:

  1. This LOOKS fantstic - I will definately be making this for dinner tomorrow night. I have some chicken sausage that I think will be ok....

    and a large quantity of Saffron I'm always trying to get into my meals before it goes stale.

    Thanks!

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  2. yummy! i love shrimp and orzo is so good! i wanted to let you know that i tried the steamer bags and they are wonderful! i have used them twice for asparagus and it was so quick and easy. i also steamed some artichokes in my microwave...they were delicious and so much faster than steaming or boiling on the stove top!
    thanks for the tips!

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  3. I have never cooked with orzo even though my mother often used it. This dish looks great.

    Denise

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  4. That looks good. I'm also a huge fan of Ina Garten's Orzo with Roasted Shrimp and Orzo with Roasted Vegetables. Yum!

    Sally

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  5. This looks delish. I'm going to add it to our menu for next week, but I think I'll just do chorizo and skip the shrimp. Yum.

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  6. I was wondering about the fresh n easy frozen shrimp... I was aprehensive since you can't see into the package... they look great. This dish reminds me of pallea

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  7. i just can't bring myself to fork out the $$$$ for saffron!

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  8. Oooh yum!! This looks delish! I need to try this.

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