Introduction to Prawn Saganaki Youvetsi

Saganaki Youvetsi is a beautiful fusion of two iconic Greek culinary traditions: the rich, comforting youvetsi, a baked orzo dish simmered in tomato sauce and the oven baked and sizzling feta cheese Saganaki. This modern version swaps the usual lamb or beef for tender shrimp, pairing it with diced tomatoes, aromatic garlic, and a generous amount of fresh basil. Finished with a crumble of feta, it’s a dish that delivers bold flavor with a rustic elegance. Served straight from the pan, Saganaki Youvetsi is as much about the experience as it is about the taste, a perfect Greek meze or main course that invites you to dive in, share, and savor.

This recipe is inspired by Yotam Ottolenghi’s Orzo with Prawns, Tomato and Marinated Feta, featured in his cookbook Ottolenghi SIMPLE. His take on this comforting dish brings together the ease of one-pan cooking with bold, Mediterranean flavors. While my version leans more toward the traditional Greek Saganaki Youvetsi, it carries the same spirit of simplicity, freshness, and satisfaction that makes Ottolenghi’s version so popular.

Instructions (the way I made it this time)

Start with breaking up 200 grams of Feta cheese into about 1 to 2 cm chunks.

Then to a small frying pan add 4 teaspoons of fennel seeds and toast them on medium heat until they get fragrant and slightly change color, you will get some nice whiffs of anise. Keep moving the seeds around the pan to prevent burning them.

When toasted transfer them to a mortar and pestle and crush them, do not grind them all the way to a powder.

Get the bowl of feta pieces and season this with half of the fennel seeds and about ¼ of a teaspoon of chilli flakes and mix carefully with a spatula, cover this with some plastic wrap and set aside.

Next step is to roughly chop the garlic, I used 3½ cloves, because we love garlic but adjust this amount to your liking.

Put the garlic on a cutting board and smash them with the side of your knife and then roughly chop them and make sure your cutting board is stable and not wobbly when you smash and cut them, to prevent any injuries.

Get a medium size pot for your 700 ml of vegetable stock, I used a Mediterranean vegetable stock and it paired amazingly.

After the stock is made I put the hob on setting 1 to keep it warm. Next up is to get a large sauté pan with a lid and put it on a medium/high heat. Add 2 table spoons of olive oil, 250 grams of orzo, a pinch of salt and a generous grind of black pepper. Fresh ground is better than pre-ground, which can loose its flavour.

Fry this for about 5 to 6 minutes under constantly stirring. Until the orzo gets a nice golden brown tan. Then remove from the pan and set aside in a bowl.

Put the sauté pan back on the hob again on medium high heat. Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil, ¼ teaspoon of chilli flakes, the rest of the fennel seeds, garlic and 2 teaspoons of orange juice. Fry this untill the garlic starts to brown slightly, then add the diced tomatoes and the stock, a pinch of salt and again a generous grind of black pepper (you will not regret this).

Bring this to a boil, about 3 to 4 minutes), then stir in the fried orzo and lower the heat till a simmer. Cover with the lid and leave this simmering for about 15 minutes and stir frequently, every 4 to 5 minutes, to prevent the orzo from sticking and burning to the bottom.

In the meantime get a good handful of basil leaves, wash them and cut them very roughly.

After 15 minutes remove the lid and cook the orzo a bit longer for about 3 to 4 minutes till the orzo is nice and soft and the tomato sauce has thickened a bit as well. Stir in the prawns and cook these for about 2 to 3 minutes till the prawns are pink and cooked. Stir in the basil leaves.

Plate it immediately and sprinkle the seasoned feta on top.