Toasted Orzo With Peas and Parmesan
"From Cook's Illustrated. This is supposed to be a side dish, but I would also consider serving this as a light meatless entree."
- Ready In:
- 29mins
- Ingredients:
- 11
- Serves:
-
8
ingredients
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 cup onion, finely chopped
- 3⁄4 teaspoon salt
- 2 garlic cloves, minced (2 teaspoons)
- 1 lb uncooked orzo pasta
- 3 1⁄2 cups low sodium chicken broth (or vegetable)
- 3⁄4 cup dry vermouth or 3/4 cup dry white wine
- 1 3⁄4 cups frozen peas
- 1 cup parmesan cheese, grated
- ground nutmeg, to taste
- ground black pepper, to taste
directions
- Heat butter in 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat; add onion and salt and cook, stirring frequently, until onion has softened and is beginning to brown, about 5 minutes.
- Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
- Add orzo and cook, stirring frequently, until most of orzo is lightly browned and golden, 5 to 6 minutes.
- Turn off heat and add vermouth and chicken broth.
- Go back to medium-high heat and bring to boil; reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring occasionally, until all liquid has been absorbed and orzo is tender, 10 to 15 minutes.
- Gently stir in peas, cheese, nutmeg, and pepper to taste.
- Remove from heat and let it stand until peas are heated through, about 2 minutes.
Questions & Replies
Got a question?
Share it with the community!
Reviews
-
We loved this recipe...it is so easy and it looks so fancy, I used the 3 color orzo and it looked and tasted wonderful. -
This was one of the first recipes we tried from this site and we absolutely love it. It's easy to make and really good with chicken. I also like to experiment with the broth/wine proportions to change the flavor emphasis. -
I halved this recipe, substituting dry white wine, as it's what I had on hand and adding a handful of mushrooms with the garlic. It was absolutely perfect! The flavors of wine, broth, and cheese worked beautifully together. I took leftovers for lunch the next day, mixing in some rotisserie chicken, and had several lunchmates ask for the recipe. I am going to try it using veggie broth and vermouth next time and share it with my vegetarian daughter. She'll love it! Thanks, kburie, for posting such a quick, delicious, versatile, and unique recipe. -
I made it exactly as described and neither I nor hubby liked it one bit. We ended up throwing the whole batch in the trash. I'm not sure why, maybe the combination of flavors clashed too much for it to be our thing - this dish has way too much going on, with each flavor trying to overpower the other. -
I did not like this recipe and ended up throwing it out. I think it would be much better without the wine. When you cook with wine and don't allow the alcohol to burn off, it can give the food a very strange taste. Next time I will make this without the wine.
see 5 more reviews
Tweaks
-
I halved this recipe, substituting dry white wine, as it's what I had on hand and adding a handful of mushrooms with the garlic. It was absolutely perfect! The flavors of wine, broth, and cheese worked beautifully together. I took leftovers for lunch the next day, mixing in some rotisserie chicken, and had several lunchmates ask for the recipe. I am going to try it using veggie broth and vermouth next time and share it with my vegetarian daughter. She'll love it! Thanks, kburie, for posting such a quick, delicious, versatile, and unique recipe.
RECIPE SUBMITTED BY
Vino Girl
United States
My husband and I married straight out of college in July of 1992. I work as the Assistant Manager at a wine shop which allows me to drink on the job! (OK, not that much, but it's still a fun job...) Besides helping customers choose wine they will like (and also help with food and wine pairings for their menus), I also get to help with the catering end of the business, so I get to spend a fair amount of time in the kitchen making fun appetizers and beautiful food displays. I also work part-time at the fromagerie next door. So yeah - that means I eat on the job, too. :^D
We live on several peaceful wooded acres on a cute little river in rural NE Wisconsin, with a cranky old-lady Burmese and whatever stray outdoor cats that have decided to adopt us on any given day. The cute puppy in the picture is Jake, our Elhew-bred English Pointer that we brought home on Easter weekend 2007. I've also got 2 painted turtles named Dennis and Fuzz, and a bunch of fish (koi and goldfish, along with the guppies & swordtails in the turtle tank).
I USUALLY eat and cook healthy, but I rarely pass up dessert, either. I do not eat red meat, and try to limit other animal products, too. I love to bake, although I seem to collect a lot of scone and biscotti recipes which I NEVER get around to making. I bake and eat A LOT of cookies and muffins... I almost always reduce the sugar by 1/4 and use whole wheat pastry flour for at least part of the flour. Those two changes do so much to make recipes healthier without compromising taste. I try to reduce fat whenever I can, too, but while I want to eat healthy, I still want to ENJOY what I eat!!!
I seem to give a lot of 4 and 5 star reviews here - I seem to have a pretty good sense of what I like by looking at a recipe before I try it. Thank you to anyone that tries my recipes in return, or photographs them.
Amber:
<img src="http://netnet.net/~mkburie/amber2.jpg">
........And a grown up Jake (one year old in January 2008) :) -
<img src="http://netnet.net/~mkburie/JAKE111307.JPG">
Charlotte (May 27, 1992-June 1, 2009):
<img src="http://netnet.net/~mkburie/Charlott.jpg">
Ashley: Adopted October 8, 1996 - Passed Away January 6, 2009
<img src="http://netnet.net/~mkburie/ashley2.jpg">
Mike: September 26, 1994 - March 19, 2004<img src="http://netnet.net/~mkburie/mike1997-lr.JPG">....
<a href='http://www.niftymaps.com/visitor-map.php?id=36321'><img src='http://i.niftymaps.com/36321.png' alt='Click to zoom in on my visitor map!' border='0'></a>Create your free world <a href='http://www.niftymaps.com/' target='_blank'>visitor maps</a>
