Parsley-Tomato Shrimp with Lemon Pepper Orzo

I have a beautiful summer dish for you today–Parsley-Tomato Shrimp with Lemon Pepper Orzo.
The dish is super simple, quick to prepare, and makes use of the fabulous tomatoes now in season.

It also makes use of a very cool new product–Baume des Anges Blissful Plant Sprays. Full disclosure, a friend is involved in this company, but I thought they were so cool I asked to try them out at home.

These extracts are made through a different process than essential oils. The use a dry steam at cool temperatures to extract the flavor from the plants. (If I ever make to the south of France I’ll visit the factory to see exactly how this works. In the meantime you can find more detailed info here. ) The result is a super potent extract that tastes fresher than your average extract–it’s like you have the plant right there. They're so good that many high-end chefs like Dan Barber, David Chang, and Thomas Keller have been using them in their restaurants.

You just spray them on and give your dish a hit of the desired flavor. They’re one drawback is that they are quite pricey, as you can probably imagine. To be honest, I think they’re best applications would probably be on amuse bouche, cocktails, and otherwise delicately flavored food that could really take the pop of flavor.

That said, I kind of wanted to try them first on a simpler, more homey application and chose to use the parsley extract to start with. I also wanted to let the flavor of the extract come through, so I also kept the flavors streamlined. The extract worked beautifully. Once sprayed on it gave the whole dish a little breath of freshness–a lift of brightness. I found it particularly effective on the orzo and sprayed directly onto the shrimp.

Of course, you don’t need the spray to create the dish, but then might want to add more parsley leaves rather just using them as garnish.

I’m hoping to play with these more soon and will keep you posted. In the meantime you can find more recipes using the extracts here.

A bright, fresh white wine makes a perfect summer pairing for this dish. We had it with this Ameztoi Getariako Txakolina. Txakoli wines comes from the Basque region of Spain. The wines tend to have a light effervescence, lots of minerality, and tons of vivid acidity that make these wine perfect for seafood.  The grape used here is local to area and it's a bit of a tongue twister–Hondarrabi Zuri. Try saying that five times fast. These wines have quite a bit in common with the wines of Vinho Verde and I'm sure those would make a wonderful match as well.

Parsley-Tomato Shrimp with Lemon Pepper Orzo

4 servings

Ingredients

2 cups orzo
4 to 5 Tbsp of butter or olive oil, or a combination
1 half lemon, juiced and zested
½ cup Parmesan
Salt
Pepper
3 medium to large tomatoes, diced
3 garlic cloves sliced
1 lb shrimp
Parsley leaves, picked for garnish
Baume des Anges Blissful Parsley Spray  (optional)

Instructions

1. Boil 4 quarts of salted water in a large pot. Add orzo and cook for about 7-8. minutes or until al dente, or prepare the orzo per package instructions.  Remove from heat and drain.

2.  Toss orzo with 1-2 Tbsp of  olive oil or butter (or as desired),  ½ the lemon juice and lemon zest, salt, pepper, a little Parmesan–add all to taste. Set aside and keep warm.

3. Heat the rest of the butter/olive oil in a pan. Add the tomatoes and the garlic and sauté over medium heat until soft. Add the shrimp and continue to cook until the shrimp are pink and no longer translucent. Toss with the rest of the lemon juice and zest, or add to taste. Season with salt and pepper.

4. Serve the shrimp on a mound of the orzo, spraying a little of the parsley extract (if using) onto each. Garnish with parsley leaves and extra Parmesan.