Lemon Orzo with Crab and Herbs

NOTE: I received a copy of The Everything Mediterranean Instant Pot® Cookbook: 300 Recipes for Healthy Mediterranean Meals―Made in Minutes by Kelly Jaggers in order to write this post. Opinions are mine alone.

I am very much on the pressure cooker bandwagon. It’s awesome for tough cuts of meat, cooking beans, and other processes that can take forever, but my favorite use is speeding up recipes just enough to make them weeknight friendly!

I was recently sent The Everything Mediterranean Instant Pot® Cookbook: 300 Recipes for Healthy Mediterranean Meals―Made in Minutes by Kelly Jaggers, and after paging through it for a few minutes, I knew this would be a big hit in my kitchen. My husband and I are huge fans of Mediterranean-style food (if you haven’t noticed from my posts…) and the adaptation of these recipes for an Instant Pot means it hasn’t left my kitchen counter since I received it!

We don’t actively follow the Mediterranean Diet, but following it can help reduce reduce inflammation, avoid disease, and lose weight, making it popular for anyone looking to live a healthier lifestyle. The Everything Mediterranean Instant Pot Cookbook shows you how to recreate classic Mediterranean meals in under an hour using the much-loved multi-cooker, the Instant Pot. With more than 300 recipes for delicious meals, snacks, and even desserts, you’ll have everything you need to create healthy, fresh, and fast meals every day of the week!

As I mentioned, I’ve already made a few recipes in here, but I wanted to share these recipe for Lemon Orzo with Crab and Herbs, which I’ve slightly adapted from the original in the cookbook.

Ingredients (serves 2):

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 medium shallot, minced
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/4 fresh parsley, chopped, plus more for garnish
• 2 tablespoons fresh basil, chopped, plus more for garnish
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground pepper
• 2 cups water (or chicken broth for more flavor)
• 8 oz orzo
• 8 oz jumbo lump crab meat
• the juice and zest of 1 lemon
• 1/4 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, plus more for garnish

Kitchen Tools Used:

• electric pressure cooker/InstantPot
• cutting board
• knife
• zester
• lemon squeezer
• measuring cups
• angled measuring cup
• wooden spoon

This recipe moves fast, so I suggest getting all of your ingredients out and prepared before beginning!

Add the olive oil to your Instant Pot and press the saute button to heat the oil. Add in your minced shallot and garlic, and cook, stirring for 30 seconds.

Press the cancel button on your Instant Pot. Add in the fresh parsley, fresh basil, salt and pepper, stirring to combine.

Pour in your water (or broth) and the orzo, stirring to combine.

Add and secure the lid to the Instant Pot and set the seal release to Sealing.

Press the manual (or pressure cooker) button and set the time to 4 minutes. (It will take about 10 minutes for the Instant Pot to pressurize.)

After Instant Pot beeps, quick-release the pressure by moving the seal release to venting and wait until the float valve drops down.

Once it has dropped down, open the lid.

Stir in the crab, lemon zest, and lemon juice.

Let stand, uncovered, on the Keep Warm setting (it automatically goes to keep warm after it is finished cooking) for 10 minutes. This will soak up most of the leftover liquid and heat through the crab.

Stir in the cheese.

Scoop into bowls, topping with more fresh parsley, fresh basil, and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, if desired.

The entire recipe takes about 30 minutes, which makes it a great weeknight dinner option!

I strongly suggest going for Parmigiano-Reggiano over Parmesan cheese, as it adds a sharpness to the dish that is really nice.

My husband and I gobbled this up. For such a simple dish, there is nice flavor. I’d suggest seasoning with a bit more pepper over each bowl before serving.