Giouvetsi is a class of Greek casserole dishes. Vegetables, stock, kritharaki and your choice of protein make up this rustic, straight-forward and delicious dish. Today’s dish is another offering for your Lenten table.
I start off with making a stock with the peel shells of your shrimp. The next step is to soften/sweat the vegetables and then toast the kritharaki (orzo). Orzo is a barley-shaped pasta that’s part every Greek home’s pantry. If you have a Greek grocer/deli in your town or city, you will find an array of krithraki brands and the choice of different kritharaki sizes.
After the orzo has been toasted, wine is added and soon after the hot stock. Bring everything to a boil and empty into a casserole dish. Place in your pre-heated oven and bake until almost all the liquid has been absorbed. The shrimp is introduced into the cassrole near the end as shrimp needs very little time to cook. Place the shrimp on your bed of kritharaki along with some herbs and bake until the shrimp are pink, opaque and lay waiting to be eaten in a C-shape. When your shrimp are in a C-shape they are cooked…when your shrimp have formed an O-shape, they are overcooked.
Shrimp Giouvetsi
(serves 4)
2 lbs. of uncooked (raw) shrimp, shelled and deveined
4 cups of water
1/3 cup olive oil
2 cups diced onions
5 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1/4 red pepper, diced
1/4 green pepper, diced
1/4 cup grated carrot
2 bay leaves
2 Tbsp. of of chopped fresh parsley
2 Tbsp. of tomato paste
1 cup of kritharaki (orzo)
1/4 cup of dry Greek wine
shrimp stock (made from the water and shrimp shells)
salt and pepper to taste
pinch of Boukovo (chilli flakes)
1 tsp. ground star anise
2 Tbsp. chopped fresh dill
Pre-heated 375F oven
- Place the shrimp shells in a pot with about 4 cups of water. Add a pinch of salt and bring to a boil. Simmer for 20 minutes and shut the heat off (your liquid will reduce to about 3 cups).
- In the meantime, add your olive oil into a skillet over medium heat and now add the onions, garlic, peppers, carrot, bay, parsley and a pinch of salt and sweat the vegetables for about 5-7 minutes or until softened.
- Add the tomato paste in the skillet and stir for a minute. Now add your kritharaki (orzo) and stir for a couple of minutes or until toasted and some kernels start to stick to the pan. Add your wine and deglaze while stirring for a couple of minutes. Strain the shrimp stock and discard the shells. Add the hot shrimp stock into the skillet and bring to a boil and stir occasionally. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper and add a pinch of Boukovo (chilli flakes) and star anise.
- Empty the contents of your skillet into a casserole/baking vessel. Your liquid should be about 1 inch above the the kritharaki (add some hot water if needed and adjust seasoning accordingly). Remove your shrimp from your fridge and allow to comeback to room temperature.
- Place in your pre-heated oven for 30-35 minutes or until almost all the liquid has been absorbed. Carefully remove the casserole from the oven and add chopped fresh dill and stir in. Place the shrimp on the bed of orzo and place back in the oven for about 5 minutes until your shrimp are pink and have formed a C-shape.
- Remove from the oven, divide and serve, top with more finely chopped dill, a drizzle of Greek olive oil. Pair with Skouras Cuvee Prestige Red at SAQ code 10701281.
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45 Responses
Funnily enough, I’ve just found a place local to me that sells orzo, so this is going straight on my ‘must make’ list. All those lovely ingredients – I can just taste them from here. Looks and sounds delicious, Peter, and a wonderful fishy treat for Lent.
Love this recipe. I always have shrimp stock in my freezer so I may have to make this over the weekend!
Sounds fresh and light and perfect for spring. Great-looking shrimp!
we have stocked up our deep freeze with shrimp in anticipation of the last week of lent – it’s not exactly difficult to enjoy one’s food then!
Yum! I have never made giouvetsi before and now you give me good reason to.
Orzo is so versatile and delicious! That dish looks wonderful!
cheers,
Rosa
Dear Peter, how come you prepare a dish like this and don’t invite me for dinner? I should be really angry with you ;D. A winner in Greek homes and in my house too… for sure :D
I love the addition of herbs and wine. I still have to try Orzo… one of these days….
Oh wow, Peter! Look at that gorgeous and creamy orzo! This picture is totally making me salivate!
We love orzo in this house…….it just sucks up the flavor of whatever you serve with it……shrimp is one of the best flavors to use of course!!!
Ooooh!
I want this instead of what I’m having for dinner (and is almost ready) so no time to change my mind now :(
Lovely flavours peter and I like the presentation too. who would think this is a lenten dish
What a great meal for Lent or any time of the year. The combo of orzo and shrimp is delicious, whether hot or cold.
Είδες η νηστεία νοστιμιÎÏ‚ που Îχει!!
ΥπÎÏοχο πιάτο Peter, άψογη όπως πάντα η παÏουσίασή σου!
Stop copying me!!!!!! (I am kiddin’)
great dish! guess what? Imcookinshrimptoo
This looks delicious…and sounds it too! We love shrimp dishes so much!!
Wowo that just looks so drooley delcious. I have never made nything with orzo, i have seen them here in the shops. Maybe i should try it as this is such a yummy looking dish.
Oh man, I am all over this!!
This shrimp dish looks fantastic!
Another nice dish Peter. I like your alphabet guide to proper shrimp cooking.
This is a new one for me! I have yet to try giouvetsi with shrimp…what a clever idea. All looks and sounds delicious Peter. Another fantastic “nistisimo”recipe!
This looks so wonderful and delicious….
I definitely have to give it a try. I have been in Greece for both Lent and Easter…what a wonderful time to be there.
Your pics are gorgeous…
One of my favorite dishes. I love shrimp giouvetsi. The stock is essential here.
Great job on nearly every part of your website, Peter. I must tell you, though, that I really hate the new “features” you have adapted recently. Normally, I typically right click on my browser to create new tabs when viewing websites, especially yours. Now, I find it extremely inconvenient to look at the different recipes because of the annoying “Copyrighted Material” message. Just thought you’d be interested in knowing.
Thanks for an excellent website, though.
Themi, I appreciate your thoughts and your continued reading of the blog, thank you. I have disabled right-clicking to deter those who still think they can use my content without permission and use on their own site (without credit) for the sole purpose of generating income from internet ads. The time it takes to pursue, file a complaint and follow-up is very time consuming on my part. Adjust your habits a bit when viewing sites and I promise to keep on sharing delicious recipes ( rather than get bogged down with filing copyright complaints).
these look great! I’ ll give it a try!
I always have orzo in my pantry, but tend to use it only in limited ways (salads and soups, mostly). I love how you have used it here for the base of the dish, so it absorbs the flavors of the sauce. I’m bookmarking.
Think I’m going to bookmark this one to make next week, I’m drooling over the computer
Look at all the wonderful flavours in there Peter. This is a keeper….hmmm I do have some shrimp….
I love the tip about the shrimp cookery :) That being said, I pretty much love EVERY shrimp dish I see. But the shrimp have to be shelled from fresh. Not cooked frozen, yecch!
Themis: Holding down CTRL while clicking will open the link in a new tab.
I know the answer is probably quite obvious but when you boil the shells to make the stock does that include the heads? Just making sure I get it right, this looks so good. Thanks
Maria, throwing the heads in is optional…might as well unless you like the shrimp with the heads on, as I do!
The chicken giouvetsi was good and a shrimp version sounds even better!
Hi Peter
Just wanted to say thanks for another great recipe. I made it last night and it was a huge hit with everyone. Very different from my usual greek food, but different GOOD.
I’ve never had giouvetsi with shrimp, but why not? I love it every other way!
Amazing! I like that it is an all-in-one meal and shrimp are a hit with me.
Haven’t made a shrimp giouvetsi before, but this has inspired me! Interesting that you use thyme & carrot!
After reading your comprehensive instruction of the kritharaki me yarides, I can see why my first trial of this dish using a cookbook recipe. Its all in the detail and your recipe has provided me with 2 important methods 1) toasting of kritharaki 2) addition of shrimps at the last stage of baking. This dish fails if the kritharaki is overcooked….So thank you kurie kalofaga…
This is my absolute favourite! Now I can learn to cook like my yaya. Euxaristo poli :)
I made this, minus the dill, and the family were shocked at how good a job I did. AS to the prawns, as we call shrimp in Australia, I grew up in a fish shop so I buy fresh, never ever Asian prawns, and clean them myself. I actually like doing so. Thanks for a great recipe. And the Retsina that went with it, nice
Had this last night, slightly varied due to what I had in the fridge (no green pepper, doubled the red. Also my prawns were already shelled so used some fish stock I had on hand. No dill to hand.)
Anyway it was divine. I am enjoying working my way through your recipes. Thank you so much.
Oh and one thing – you list parsley in the ingredients, but don’t say when to add it. I just threw it in at the end when I added the prawns. Perhaps you might like to fix that?
Thanks for your feedback Nick and I’ve amended the recipe…parsley goes in early with bay, etc.