February 2020 Honorable Mention - Grilled Southwest Shrimp on Santa Fe Sun Dried Tomato Pesto Orzo

Belli amici! Cooks and chefs! Food lovers! 

Love is in the air! And Chef Richie says, the way to everyone’s heart is through their tastebuds! So we chose this romantic recipe for February’s Bella Sun Luci recipe contest honorable mention, Southwest Shrimp by home chef Sharyn LaPointe Hill. Congratulations Chef Sharyn! We love your recipe! The flavors, textures and colors are rich, luscious and delicious…a feast for the tongue and eyes that adds a touch of spice to our lives.

For your romantic conquest and to create a new dish for this year’s contest, you’ll receive a deluxe gift box filled with Bella Sun Luci products to start creating more recipes for this year’s competition. 

Now, everybody, get cooking, please enter your own recipe to our contest at www.bellasunluci.com, buon appetito and arrivederci...until we meet again…

Love!

Chef Richie

Ingredients

Pesto 

1½ cups (from 16-oz. jar) Bella Sun Luci Sun Dried Tomatoes Julienne-Cut with Herbs and Extra Virgin Olive Oil

8 tbsp cup olive oil reserved from jar, divided

½ cup fresh cilantro leaves

¼ cup fresh lime juice

4 cloves garlic, peeled & coarsely chopped

½ tsp each salt & pepper

¾ cup crumbled cotija cheese (can substitute plain feta)

Orzo

1 cup orzo

Shrimp

24 (about 1 pound) large fresh shrimp, peeled & deveined (or frozen & thawed)

2 tsp dried oregano leaves (preferably Mexican oregano)

2 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground red pepper 

½ tsp each salt & pepper

Garnish

¼ cup additional crumbled cotija cheese

Ingredients

1. In food processor combine Sun Dried Tomatoes, 6 tablespoons olive oil from jar and all pesto ingredients except cheese.
2. Cover and process until smooth.
3. Transfer to small bowl; stir in cotija cheese. Set aside. (Pesto can be made in advance. Bring to room temperature; stir before use).
4. Cook orzo according to package directions (9 to 10 minutes), omitting salt. Drain well when done.  
5. While orzo is cooking, combine 2 tablespoons reserved olive oil from jar, shrimp, oregano, cumin, red pepper, salt and pepper in medium bowl; stirring gently to thoroughly cover shrimp.
6. Preheat large ridged grill pan (2 if necessary) over medium-high heat.
7. Place shrimp on pan. Grill until marked, 3 to 4 minutes; flip and grill until cooked through, 2 to 3 more minutes.
8. Transfer cooked orzo to large bowl, adding prepared pesto; tossing gently to thoroughly combine. Divide onto 6 individual plates.
9. Top with equally divided shrimp.
10. Garnish with crumbled cotija cheese and serve immediately.

Serves 6