Description
Spicy Garlic Shrimp with Orzo is a 30 minute meal nice enough for date night in, and quick enough for a healthy weeknight dinner.
Ingredients
Scale
- 16 oz. raw shrimp
- 12 oz. asparagus
- 5 cloves garlic
- 1 lemon
- 1 cup chopped parsley (about 1 oz.)
- 5 Tbsp. butter, divided
- 1 1/2 cups orzo pasta
- 1 tsp. + 1/8 tsp. salt, divided
- 1/4–1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes*
- parmesan cheese for serving
Instructions
- Prepare ingredients:
Thaw shrimp if necessary.
Wash asparagus and snap off woody ends.
Mince garlic.
Cut lemon in half.
Chop parsley. - Start boiling water for orzo. Cook according to package instructions, adding 1 tsp. salt to pot of water.
- Microwave asparagus for 2 minutes.
- Heat large saute pan over medium-high heat. Add 1 Tbsp. of the butter to pan and when it sizzles, add the asparagus. Cook for 1-2 minutes, until done according to your preference.
- Set asparagus aside and heat same pan again over medium-high heat. Add remaining butter to pan and when it sizzles, add garlic and red pepper flakes to pan. Cook for 1 minute, and add shrimp to pan. Cook for about 2-3 minutes, until shrimp is cooked through and white. (If your shrimp isn’t raw, you just need to heat it, about 2 minutes.)
- Add drained orzo, lemon juice, and chopped parsley to shrimp. Toss together until combined. Salt to taste and serve with parmesan if desired. Serve with asparagus.
Notes
- Get your kids involved! They can: help snap ends off of asparagus, sprinkle their portion with parmesan.
- Red pepper flakes: because we are cooking the pepper in with butter, the heat permeates the sauce. If you don’t like spice, add 1/8-1/4 tsp. You can always add more at the end.