Lemon Orzo with Roasted Shrimp and Snow Peas: Thank You Pasta Montana!

The other day I received my very first "blogger care package."  I remembered watching the scene on Julie and Julia when she received food items from her readers.  How cool is that?!

My Alaskan aunt and uncle, recently moved back to Great Falls, Montana.  Uncle Tom now works at Pasta Montana  and sent me some of their pastas to try!  It felt like Christmas!  I was SO excited!  Get ready to see a lot of fun pasta and grain experiments!


Also included were some grains, lentils, and seeds from where Aunt Cheryl works- a grain lab, where they study the wonders of plants and herbs and how to use them for food and fuel.  She was always the aunt who knew stuff about plants- having studied Agronomy.

Aunt Cheryl who loves her plants!

So here's my first tribute to Pasta Montana, using their Orzo pasta.  It's so fun, because it looks like rice, but it's pasta!  I've watched Ina make it several times with seafood, so I did my own version.

Lemon Orzo with Roasted Shrimp and Snow Peas

1 1/2 pound fresh shrimp, deveined.
1/2 cup, plus 2 tbls good olive oil
2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 1/2 cup orzo pasta
1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
3/4 cup chopped green onion
1/2 cup yellow onion minced
3/4 cup chopped flat leaf parsley
3/4 cup snow peas, chopped into bite-size

Unload "the grosh."  I abbreviate words or names often.  It's a sign of endearment.

Get out all the ingredients so you know where you're going and don't get lost along the way.

I left the shells on my shrimp.  That way eating is more of a project.  Getting your hands into it is fun later.  Working for your food is good for the soul.

After washing them with water, toss with 2 tbs olive oil, salt and pepper.  Place on baking sheet.  400 degrees for 6 minutes.

They should come out pink and succulent.  Let cool.

Next, squeeze your lemons.  Catch the seeds as your juice.

Add your olive oil.  Two halves make a whole.

Add your 2 tsp salt and 1 tsp pepper and whisk away.  This may seem like a lot for your orzo, but the pasta will drink this right up!  Thirsty pasta!

Cook your orzo according to directions, I cooked mine for 10 minutes with a little olive oil in the water.

Drain your pasta and then add it (still hot) to the lemon sauce you just made.  Mix it up and let it stand.

Chop your onions.

Add your parsley and snow peas.

Stir it all up.

Taste for salt and pepper and add the shrimp.  This made enough for Chris and my dinner (right) and two lunch portions for the next day (left).  It was great at room temperature.  I packed it up and brought it to him in between classes that night at school.  It was EXCELLENT the next day as well.

A bright and colorful dish for anytime and easy to make a day ahead.