Shrimp with Mushroom Orzo Pasta

Shrimp with Mushroom Orzo Pasta

By Peggy Fonke (Inspired by Katie Luby and All Recipes.com)









This recipe makes me think of the time when my daughter was in college. She invited a date over for dinner, but ran out of time to cook. So I got the call asking if I could whip up something for her to serve. So I pulled this creation together and ran it to her apartment, where she took full credit for the meal. He was impressed and she owed me a big one!




This combines two recipes together. I received the spicy shrimp recipe from my dear friend Katie Luby. Katie's husband, Tim and my husband, John were best friends and roommates in college. Katie and I hit it off as we share a love of cooking and trying new recipes. I had been making this shrimp as an appetizer for years.













Much more recently I found a recipe for Orzo pasta with mushrooms through All Recipes. I altered this recipe to include an Alfredo-type sauce then added the marinade from the spicy shrimp to the pasta and BAM! The combination is magic.










Here is the recipe:



Shrimp marinade

1 TBL olive oil

1 TBL Creole Seasoning

2 TBL lemon or lime juice

1 TBL parsley

2 TBL honey

1 TBL soy sauce

pinch of cayenne pepper



1 lb uncooked shrimp – peeled and cleaned

Place cleaned/peeled shrimp in a small zip lock bag. Add marinade and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Skewer and grill until shrimp turns pink (about 2 minutes per side). Do not over cook in order to keep shrimp moist and tender.

SAVE THE MARINADE FOR THE PASTA!



Pasta

3 TBL Olive oil

8 oz fresh mushrooms, sliced

¼ cup chopped onion

1 cup orzo – uncooked

11/2 cups water

½-1 cup white wine

½ cup Parmesan cheese

½ - 1 cup half n half

In a large skillet, saute onion and mushrooms in olive oil until mushrooms no longer weep. Remove lid to allow excess liquid to cook down and mushrooms to brown.

Add uncooked orzo to skillet, and brown.

Add 1 ½ cups water and ½ cup wine to skillet.

Cover and simmer until liquid is absorbed.

Test pasta to make sure it is tender. If not, add a little more water and continue to simmer until tender.

Gradually add Parmesan cheese and stir until melted.

Add half n half and if desired, a little more white wine and simmer to achieve desired thickness. 

Stir in the marinade from the shrimp.

Mixture should be a little soupy while simmering. Once it begins to cool, it will thicken.

Top with grilled shrimp.



It's one of my favorites! Enjoy!