Orzo meets risotto in this amazing pesto orzotto with shrimp recipe. A creamy dish that we cook slowly like a risotto and add parmesan cheese at the end.

We paired it with our kale-pistachio pesto and green peas for that bright colour. We also added pan-seared shrimp for more proteins.

How to Make Orzotto—Risotto Style?

Basic ingredients:
- Use orzo instead of risotto rice.
- Use a good quality broth (chicken or vegetable broth). The ratio is 2 for 1. Here we’re using 2 cups of orzo for 4 cups of broth.
- Deglaze with dry white wine.
- Finish it with Parmesan cheese.

Same technique as risotto: We first cook shallots with butter. Then we add the orzo and cook it for 1–2 minutes. We deglaze with the wine and add heated broth 1 cup approx. at the time, stirring well. It will take about 15 minutes to cook through. We finish it with some green peas, pesto and good quality Parmesan.

What Wine Should You Use to Make Pesto Orzotto?

Use a dry white wine like Sauvignon Blanc.

What Pesto Should You Use?

Our Kale-Pistachio Pesto: grab the recipe here.

Any kind of pesto: you can use what you have at hand or even a store-bought pesto. The pesto you’ll choose will influence the taste of this dish. We recommend making our Kale Pistachio pesto if possible.

Pan-seared Shrimp

You can serve the dish without shrimp for a vegetarian dinner.

To make the shrimp:

Make sure you remove any excess of water from the shrimp with paper towels.
Heat a large skillet with butter and cook the shrimp for about 2 minutes per side. Don’t overcook them! You don’t want dry shrimp.
Add some garlic while cooking.
Add salt and pepper.

How to Reheat the Dish?

Leftovers? We recommend adding a couple of tablespoons of water to reheat it to make sure it’s creamy.