You’ll appreciate a complexity of multiple flavors in this recipe. Spicy and creamy red curry based sauce (a little bit Thai and a little bit Indian) and spicy shrimp are balanced by creamy orzo (pasta shaped like rice). Green snap peas complete the picture and bring even more balance to this recipe.
Bring water to boil in a small pan and cook snap peas for about 10 minutes in boiling water until desired crispiness, drain.
Creamy Orzo:
Bring water to boil in a separate pan, add orzo and boil for about 9 minutes. Drain, return orzo to pan.
Add shredded Parmesan cheese, ¼ cup heavy cream, simmer briefly, stirring, until cheese melts.
Shrimp:
In a separate bowl, mix all spices together and add shrimp: toss to coat.
Heat sesame oil on medium heat in a large frying pan until oil sizzles. Add shrimp. Cook shrimp on medium heat about 3-4 minutes on each side until the shrimp is pink and cooked through. Remove shrimp to a plate.
Creamy Red Curry Sauce:
To the same pan, add chopped green onions, regular onion, and garlic, cover with lid and cook covered for about 7 minutes on medium or medium-low heat, stirring occasionally. No need to add more oil because onions will release their juices.
Add heavy cream, milk, half of the water (⅓ cup of water) to the pan with onions and garlic and bring to boil. Add curry paste and tomato paste. Mix until well incorporated and let it simmer for 5 minutes. Add the remaining water (⅓ cup of water) if needed. Add paprika at the end if necessary.
Assembly:
To serve, spoon orzo on each plate, top with curry sauce, place snap peas on top and around orzo, then top with shrimp.