Creamy prawn and lemon orzotto

 

This is a really easy and tasty dish, I made it the other night when I had some raw king prawns in the freezer and was going to make a risotto but remembered I had some orzo in the cupboard. Orzo is a rice shaped pasta and so you don't have to do the slow adding of stock like you do in a risotto so it's much quicker. You can have this on the table in less than half an hour. 

I used raw king prawns but you can use ones pre cooked but you would need to add them at the end so they don't overcook. 

Creamy prawn and lemon orzotto

250g orzo 

500ml hot vegetable stock (I use stockpots) 

1 lemon (zested and juiced)

250g king prawns (raw and deveined and shelled) or use cooked see note above. 

1 small onion (diced finely)

2 tbsp creme fraiche

75g frozen peas

1 clove garlic (crushed) 

1 tsp butter 

1 tsp oil  

salt and pepper

Place the butter and oil into a large saucepan over a medium heat until the butter has melted.  Add the diced onion and fry for a few minutes till soft and then add the garlic, zest of the lemon and raw prawns. Cook until the prawns turn pink and then remove them from the pan and set aside. 

Put the orzo in the pan along with the hot stock and bring to the boil stirring well, Reduce to a simmer and cover the pan let it simmer for 10 -15 minutes until the stock has almost all absorbed. 

Add the peas and put the prawns back in along with a tablespoon of lemon juice, Cook gently for five minutes then take the pan off the heat and stir in the creme fraiche.  Season with pepper and taste you might not need salt as the prawns and stock are quite salty. I usually serve with a side salad or some steamed broccoli.

Serves 4