One-Pot Chermoula Shrimp and Orzo

1. Chermoula will hold its bright green color for 7 days if you wait to add the lemon juice until just before serving. Add at the beginning=khaki green. 2. Fresh herbs lose color & flavor when cooked. Best added at the end. 3. Shrimp needs only 2-3 minutes @ 185° to be perfectly cooked. 4. Add 2 tsp. lemon zest to Chermoula. Do not add sugar. 5. Cook orzo 10 minutes, turn off heat. Add shrimp and Chermoula. Stir, cover, let stand 3 minutes. Taste, add lemon juice and salt to taste. No garnish.

Three cheers for Nargisse Benkabbou. Finally a shrimp recipe that calls for removing the tails. I have never understood why the inedible tails are left on in all too many recipes and all too many restaurant dishes. They add nothing to the dish and are simply a mess to eat and leave a mess on the plate. Hiphiphip hooray! Hiphiphip hooray! Hiphiphip hooray!

Can I sub out cilantro? I’m one of those folks who think it tastes like soap.

Surprised this cooks all the chermoula—cilantro loses almost all flavor when it's cooked, and cooking does no favors to cilantro's or parsley's texture. I'll try this, but half the chermoula in the cooking and stir in the rest off heat (or maybe add only half the cilantro and parsley to the chermoula, stir all that in, and stir in the remaining cilantro & parsley off heat). I'd also stir in most of the lemon zest off heat, and sprinkle just a bit on top.

What should have been brimming with flavors was simply ok. I followed the recipe which may have been written more for convenience. I think the herbs lost their flavor from the length of cooking time and I agree with anyone who suggests adding the chermoula at the end of cooking the shrimp and orzo, however you get there.

Am I the only one who does not like biting into zest and would not want the amount as shown in the photo of this dish? I can appreciate the intense citrus flavor it adds when part of a dish with multiple ingredients, but as a garnish on top, I feel it is too pungent. Sort of the way many people feel about cilantro. You either like it a lot or you don’t like it at all. This recipe looks delicious and I will make it, just with not so much lemon zest.

I’d cook the shrimp separately and quickly and toast in olive oil and a pat of butter after marinating in the same ingredients as the chermoula without the herbs (lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, paprika, cumin, salt and sugar minus the zest which might burn) the small half tsp of sugar will caramelize them - this is less than 2 min- remove to a plate and use the same pan for the orzo, then at the end add and toss into the noodles for a depth of flavor you wouldn’t get from simply steaming them.

Try using flat leaf parsley, Thai basil, or my favorite celery tops.

So good- next time i make it I’ll be: -using a good processor for the chermoula… mincing everything took up unnecessary time -add the lemon zest in with the chermoula instead of garnishing the plate with it. That way we get the added flavor of the zest melded into the plate more.

This was delicious. I used a half pound of shrimp and regular everything else and found ratio good. Ate at least 2/3 of it alone. A treat because my other family members don't eat shrimp. 10-minute shrimp stock as others recommend. Saved about 1/4 of the chermoula to stir in fresh. Only had half of one lemon for zest and juice but found it plenty lemony. Made the chermoula in the food processor, very easy, didn't stress about quantities, no sugar, came out great.

The zest in the picture is not finely grated zest. Zest in the picture would be a little much.Love the recipe.

Ixnay on the veg stock. I made a quick seafood stock with the shrimp shells, half a lemon, parsley stems and onion ... all things (well except for the onion) you'll have right at your fingertips from prepping this dish. It really added a deep flavor to the dish that I don't think I would have achieved with just veg stock.

I was wondering if you could use some Ras El Hanout seasoning in this ? I just got a bottle of this spice and as weird as this sounds, I don’t remember why I bought it, I saw a recipe somewhere that called for it , but I didn’t save it and I can’t find it , could be for a grilled chicken or I thought it might be for a cucumber salad, vinegar or yogurt based , I just don’t know. It’s a mystery, it works on scrambled eggs, but I’m going to be adventurous and try it out with this recipe.

What a delicious recipe. I used a stick blender to chop the herbs, sautéed the garlic to take the edge off, added a squeeze of lemon over my portion. Just sumptuous. Will make again! Soon!

I followed Randy’s advice, browning and cooking the orzo, then adding the herb mixture and the shrimp, off heat. I subbed lemon zest and juice for lime (and used less zest). Outstanding!