I bought some orzo because I’ve never eaten it. I’m planning to make some stuffed chicken breasts. Stuffing will be shredded gruyere cheese and spinach. Then I’ll wrap them in bacon, and pan fry to brown, and finish in the oven. Served with steamed asparagus.
So I don’t want anything cheesy for the orzo, but I want some flavor, too. I was thinking of making something like “holiday rice” - with carrot, onion, and celery cooked in with the rice, using chicken stock (from the box.)
I don’t think the veggies will cook enough. This pasta should be ready almost immediately, right? (Since it’s so small.)
You’re not supposed to, but I liked it anyway when I treated orzo like rice in a risotto: you’re starting out by sauteeing everything in butter and adding the liquid slowly enough that the pasta can’t absorb enough to over-soften before the vegetables are cooked. You have absolute control over this – chop them finely enough, and they’ll just dissolve into the liquid anyhow.
Personally, with gruyere, spinach and asparagus present, I’m not sure I’d bother with aromatics like onion, carrot and celery at all – butter, salt, pepper and maybe some grated cheese instead. In fact, I’d probably save the orzo for another occasion and go with a base of polenta, cooked the same way.
But whatever you do, I’m sure you’ll enjoy it – best wishes.
I like it for cold pasta salads since it’s lighter than other pastas. Like this one:
Black Bean & Orzo Salad
2c Cooked orzo
1 Chopped purple onion
¼ c pesto (I get the bottled Classico stuff, it’s fine)
¾ cup Black beans; drained
¼ c rice vinegar
2 tbsp Balsamic vinegar
¼ cup Olive oil
1 tsp Pepper
3/4 tsp Salt
2 Cloves garlic; minced
Combine orzo, pepper, onion, basil and beans; set aside. Combine vinegar, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, pepper, salt and garlic; mix well and toss with salad.
No mayo to go toxic so good for picnics, potluck BBQ’s, etc.
I like it for cold pasta salads since it’s lighter than other pastas. Like this one:
Black Bean & Orzo Salad
2c Cooked orzo
1 Chopped purple onion
¼ c pesto (I get the bottled Classico stuff, it’s fine)
¾ cup Black beans; drained
¼ c rice vinegar
2 tbsp Balsamic vinegar
¼ cup Olive oil
1 tsp Pepper
3/4 tsp Salt
2 Cloves garlic; minced
Combine orzo, pepper, onion, pesto and beans; set aside. Combine vinegar, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, pepper, salt and garlic; mix well and toss with salad.
No mayo to go toxic so good for picnics, potluck BBQ’s, etc.
I didn’t read the other responses until this morning.
The chicken turned out great! The orzo was just ok - I sweated out the veggies in olive oil, then added them to the pasta, along with some fresh chopped parsley. I liked the texture!
I made the orzo salad from the link below a couple weeks ago - people absolutely loved it. I would recommend substantially less olive oil in making the vinaigrette and go lightly with it when adding it.
