Orzo – Summer Pasta

We don’t really appreciate orzo, but because of its charming, small size and shape, it hardly looks like pasta. He can trick you into believing it’s grain or chewy rice, which is pretty harmless as far as betrayal is concerned. Don’t think too much about it and just enjoy it.

Orzo’s morphability is what makes it so useful. Like its younger brother, ditalini, it retains its potency in soups without ever going sour. Unlike ditalini, its shape makes it an ideal base for salads and a real contender for toppings, be it pepper, tomato or artichoke.

Treat orzo like any other pasta.

A plate of orzo spread with butter, parmesan and salt is a delicacy you probably haven’t tried in a while. Double down on cheese and you have a new pasta alternative.

I would say that it is better to use orzo in soups. Something about the small shape allows the pasta to retain its flavor even in a lot of liquid, and yet it’s not a mouthful. It just seems to melt into the soup with a silky mouthfeel. My current obsession is summer avgolemono, a beloved Greek soup that rarely appears on menus in my city. This is a simple, bright and smooth chicken soup with lemon and parsley.

Summer Avgolemono

Ingredients:

• 4 cups chicken or vegetable broth (I prefer broth)
• 1 egg
• 1 handful fresh parsley or 2 tablespoons dried parsley
• 1/3 cup lemon juice
• 1/2 cup orzo
• Optional: 1 boneless and skinless chicken thigh

Slice the chicken thigh into long, thin strips, and cut those longer than 2 inches in half. Postpone.

Put the broth on the stove, bring to a boil and add the orzo. Simmer until the orzo is al dente, about 8 minutes, but check for taste.

While this is happening, beat the eggs and lemon juice in another bowl. When the orzo is ready, slowly add a tablespoon of the hot broth to the eggs and lemon, whisking rapidly. Continue until 8 tablespoons of broth have been added. Now add a whole spoonful of soup (about a cup), continuing to beat. By now the egg and lemon are tempered and ready to be added to the soup.

While stirring the soup in the saucepan, add the egg-lemon mixture back into the saucepan and let it boil while you stir. While continuing to stir, add the chicken and stir until the chicken does not stick together.

Let the soup simmer until the chicken is cooked through and the soup thickens (about 6 minutes). Turn off heat, sprinkle chopped parsley on top and serve with salt and pepper.

Treat orzo like a grain

This week I remembered how damn delicious a simple cold orzo salad can be when tossed with chopped tomatoes, pickled red onions, feta and lots of fresh cilantro. I found myself going back to the fridge all day for extra bits of salad, which was surprisingly simple yet satisfying.

Cold orzo salad

Ingredients:

• 2 cups orzo
• ½ cup feta cheese, crumbled
• 1 large chopped tomato, roughly chopped
• ¼ cup chopped pickled onion (can substitute fresh red onion)
• 1 bunch fresh cilantro, chopped along with stems
• ½ cup olive oil
• ¼ cup red wine vinegar
• Salt and pepper.

Boil orzo in salted water until soft, then drain and rinse with cold water, shaking excess water through a sieve. Add orzo to a large bowl.

Add feta, tomatoes, onion and cilantro and mix well.

Add olive oil and vinegar and mix well, then salt and pepper to taste. Serve at room temperature. Keeps well in the refrigerator for up to five days.

Treat orzo like rice

Unless it’s Thanksgiving, I lean towards a rice-based filling, be it Cornish chicken or vegetables. The filling in this stuffed tomato is more like a risotto than a stale bread filling.

Orzo stuffed tomatoes

Ingredients:

• 4 large chopped tomatoes or large bell peppers (almost any vegetable can be used, but they work well on their own).
• ¾ cup orzo
• 2 cups of different mushrooms you like or can find
• Mushroom or vegetable broth (again, better than stock)
• 1 shallot, diced
• ¼ cup parmesan cheese, grated
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil

Chop or coarsely chop the mushrooms. Melt the butter in a saucepan, add the shallots and let it caramelize.

Add the mushrooms and fry them until they are browned and the water has completely evaporated.

Add the orzo and toss it in the pan so that each piece is covered in oil. Add ½ cup broth and let the mixture come to a boil. From now on, treat it like a risotto, adding stock as needed over the next 15 minutes, until the orzo is fully cooked, tasting every 5 minutes or so.

Add most of the Parmesan, leaving a few tablespoons in reserve, stir in the cheese and remove from heat. Let the mixture cool on the table until it is cool enough to work with.

Cut the tops off the tomatoes, then cut the smallest piece off the bottom of each, just enough so that it stands upright and doesn’t roll around. Use a melon spatula or spoon to scoop out the inside of the tomato. Salt and pepper the tomatoes inside.

Lay the tomato intestines on a cutting board and cut them into a runny mixture, then add to the orzo. Once the orzo is cool enough to work with, spoon the tomatoes over the top. Drizzle olive oil on top, add salt, pepper and a pinch of parmesan, then fry for five minutes—just long enough to brown the top—then serve.