Orzo – the pasta that looks like rice

March 9, 2007

admin

Perusing my new old favorite cookbook, How to Cook Without a Book: Recipes and Techniques Every Cook Should Know by HeartI saw the section on orzo, so bought a box at the store. Why have I never cooked this before? We play around with little pastas all the time, yet somehow this was a new one. She has lots of flavor combos, but I opted for the simple butter and Parmesan version, although the lemon and parsley sounded great, too.

Anderson says you can cook it like pasta (lots of water, then drain) or like rice (with measured ratios of water to pasta, although, as an aside, you can also cook rice like pasta if you’d like, in lots of water and then drain). Not having made it before I opted for her “rice-like” method. This made a great side dish for the maple-Dijon chicken thighs I made the same night.

1 quart water
1/2 pound orzo (1 1/3 cups)
1 tsp salt
2 Tbs olive oil or butter
1/4 cup or more grated Parmesan
black pepper to taste

Bring the water to a boil. Add the orzo and salt and stir. Cook uncovered 8-9 minutes, until the orzo is soft and has absorbed most of the water. Add the butter or oil, cheese, and pepper to taste. Stir and serve.

This was her plain version. The variations include blue cheese and walnuts; basil and pine nuts; tomatoes, feta, and olives; roasted red peppers and basil; and spinach and Parmesan.

11 Comments

11 Responses

Michelle • March 9, 2007 @7:51 am

I had to ask myself the same question. Why haven’t I cooked with orzo. In restaurants, it’s always delicious. Your recipe sounds so simple and yummy.

http://thefastfoodie.blogspot.com/
Amy • March 9, 2007 @6:02 pm

Orzo is one of my favorite things to eat! I actually cook it in chicken broth (using rice:water ratios) and then throw in a big handful of Parmesan cheese. It tastes heavenly!
Sean • March 16, 2007 @12:12 am

I vote for the rice method as well — I use orzo in lieu of arborio for a faux risotto. It has a wonderfully silky texture and is far more forgiivng than the real deal, if slightly less ethereally rich and nummy.
Ginny • October 30, 2008 @9:33 am

Thanks so much for this! My mother-in-law purchased some “fancy” orzo for me as a gift (why, I dunno…) but failed to include any type of cooking instructions.
jodie • November 7, 2008 @6:56 pm

thanx for this recipe i just bought a big bag of garden vegetable orzo and merchandise outlet for 69 cents had no idea how to cook it lol
Susan • March 9, 2009 @9:24 am

In the list of variations tomato,feat and olives what is feat
Dee • March 13, 2009 @1:56 pm

It’s feta, not feat. And it’s goat cheese.
Pamilla from France • May 23, 2009 @4:07 am

Heres my twist from my life in the south of france.
saute shallots or onion in olive oil (do not let them brown). add chicken broth or water or veg broth, juice of 1/2 lemon and zest as well, bring to a boil and add orzo simmer 1 minute on high then reduce heat to low salt and peper to tase, (like rice) , Let cook slowly , meanwhile, chop some kalamata olives, asparagus, fresh mint and some frozen peas. When orzo is almost absorbed, add the veggies just to warm them add some locatelli romano cheese and YUM YUM YUM!
david • September 1, 2009 @5:23 pm

How many does it serve?????
admin • September 1, 2009 @5:32 pm

Half a pound should serve 4-6 as a side dish.
Sal • November 20, 2009 @7:47 am

Feta isn’t goat cheese – it’s made from sheeps milk. Goats milk is sometimes used in cheap feta, but if it has more goat than sheep milk it isn’t allowed to be called feta.

Chronicles of a Curious Cook

Recent Posts

Categories

Search

Archives

Meta

Orzo – the pasta that looks like rice

11 Responses

Tell me what you think

Recent Comments

Blogroll