Shrimp Orzo Skillet

Dinner ready in a skillet or a one pan meal is easy to make: just add a salad and your favorite white wine.

Ingredients:

Shrimp:
8 oz large uncooked shrimp (21-25per pound)
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1/4 tsp  salt
1/4 tsp coarsely ground black pepper
1/8 tsp sugar 

Orzo:
8 oz  orzo pasta
1 garlic clove, pressed
2 cups  chicken broth
1 cup  clam juice
1  lemon
1 tbsp thinly sliced fresh mint
1 cup frozen peas or fresh asparagus, blanched and cut into 1” pieces 
1 tbsp butter

Directions:

For shrimp, peel and devein shrimp. Add oil to 10 “ skillet; heat over medium-high heat 1-3 minutes or until shimmering. As the skillet heats, combine salt, black pepper and sugar in small bowl; add shrimp and toss to coat.

Arrange shrimp in a single layer over bottom of skillet and cook about 1 minute or until one side is browned and edges are pink. Remove skillet from heat and turn shrimp over; let stand an additional 30 seconds or until centers are opaque and shrimp is cooked through. Remove shrimp from skillet, set aside.

For orzo, in same skillet, combine orzo, pressed garlic, broth and clam juice. Bring to a boil; cover and reduce heat to medium-low. Cook 10-12 minutes or until orzo is cooked through.

As orzo cooks, zest lemon to measure 1 tbsp; juice lemon to measure 1 tbsp juice. Thinly slice the mint.

Remove skillet from heat and stir in peas or asparagus, butter and lemon juice. Arrange shrimp over orzo; cover and let stand 3-5 minutes or until heated through. Sprinkle with lemon zest and mint before serving.

Cook's Tips:

The small amount of sugar that is added to the shrimp promotes caramelization in the short time that it takes to cook the shrimp.

To slice mint into thin ribbons, use a technique called chiffonade (shif-uh-NAHD). Stack mint leaves on top of each other and roll into a tight cylinder. Slice crosswise and separate into ribbons.