Italian Summer: Week 6

It’s a Twofer! Saffron Orzo with Shrimp Sunday and Red Pepper Tart Tuesday

I love Italian Summer! So much so that I made Sunday’s dinner and then pulled another one out of the hat today!

Sunday was the Saffron Orzo with Shrimp. This will shock you I’m sure, but we already had saffron in the house. Jarrod uses it when he makes the Saint Lucia buns in December. I really like the flavor of saffron, it’s very earthy smelling, it almost smells like bread (maybe because I associate it with the buns?) and a little goes a long way. This one was so easy to make, but had SO much flavor! Cooking the orzo in the chicken broth gave it a lot of flavor, pasta can be pretty bland just cooked in salted water. I used already peeled, uncooked shrimp, and they cook very fast, you have to pay attention so you don’t overcook them. This was delicious and there were leftovers (bonus!) for lunch today!

I got to see my mom yesterday for the first time since Christmas (screw you, virus) and her garden is going gangbusters. I don’t know what kind of steroids her zucchini are on, but they are prolific! She made me some zucchini bread (YUM) and also brought me a ton of zucchini. So while trying to figure out a good way to use it up, I came across the recipe for this tart. I had also harvested two Japanese eggplants from my garden, so I decided to mix in an eggplant and subbed one in for one of the zucchini. The tart was very good, lots of good flavor from the veggies, and not so much egg that it was like a quiche. I would have maybe let the onions caramelize a little bit more just to make them sweeter. And also score, a piece left over for my breakfast tomorrow! Along with a piece of zucchini bread…

I hope you are finding something good to do with all of the fantastic summer veggies all over the place right now! Enjoy them while they last!

Cheers! ~ Jen