Mediterranean Baked Shrimp Orzo | One Skillet Meal
This baked shrimp orzo recipe is simple to make but loaded with flavor from a handful of ingredients which bring a big Mediterranean flavor to the dish. Plus, it's an absolutely easy, one skillet meal!
6ozspinachstems removed and roughly chopped; see note
2tbspbutterdivided
6clovesgarlicminced
½tspcrushed red pepper flakes
1lemonzested
2cupschicken stock
½lborzo pasta
¼cupheavy cream
½tspkosher salt
1tspdried oregano
2ozJack cheese grated
1 ozpecorino cheesegrated
½lbshrimppeeled and deveined; see note
3-4cannedwhole artichokesquartered and then halved (cut into eights); see note
6ozgrape or cherry tomatoescut in half
2.5 ozfeta cheesecrumbled
½cuppanko bread crumbs
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 400F.
In a 10-12-inch cast iron skillet (or other oven-proof skillet), heat olive oil over medium heat. Add the spinach and cook until spinach has cooked and wilted down to about half the original volume. Remove from the pan.
Wipe out the skillet and add 1 tbsp of butter to the pan. Keep the heat at medium and add the garlic, lemon zest, and crushed red pepper flakes. Cook for 1-2 minutes until the garlic softens but doesn't start to brown. Add the orzo to the pan and stir to coat with the butter. Add the chicken broth to the pan. Bring to a simmer and continue simmering for about 6 minutes or until the orzo is just slightly underdone. The orzo should be slightly soupy with some moisture left from the stock. Don't drain this; the excess moisture will continue to cook the orzo while it's in the oven.
While the orzo is cooking, melt the remaining 1 tbsp of butter and mix with the bread crumbs until the bread crumbs are well coated with butter.
Turn off the heat and add the heavy cream, kosher salt, oregano, jack cheese, pecorino, shrimp, artichokes, and spinach. Stir to combine. Then top with crumbed feta and grape tomatoes. Then sprinkle the buttered bread crumbs evenly over the mixture.
Bake on the middle of rack of your oven for 20 minutes. Then switch your oven to broil and broil for 2-3 minutes until the bread crumbs are toasted to a golden brown color. Keep a close eye on your skillet while it's broiling. You don't want to burn your breadcrumbs.Let sit for 10 minutes and then serve.
Notes
If you are using baby spinach, you don't need to remove the stems. If you'd rather use frozen chopped spinach, you don't need to sauté it. Just defrost and drain well.
You can use any size shrimp you'd like, but I think 21-25 (meaning 21-25 shrimp per pound) shrimp are a pretty good size for this recipe.
I like using whole canned artichokes because I think their texture is always better than canned artichokes that are already quartered. Use non-marinated artichokes.