I found the following recipe on the Cooking Channel's web page. It's a Giada De Laurentiis recipe and, I don't know about you, but I think that people who cook Italian food all day, but remain pencil-thin can't be trusted! :) It's as though she is immune to carbs!
Well 2012 has been the year of the mushroom as I have craved mushrooms for months straight. I'm adding them to everything, even when recipes don't call for them! In addition, the combination of mushrooms, wine, garlic, and thyme, just sends me over the top, so I was thrilled to find the following recipe. Also, my husband prefers rice to pasta and orzo is a rice-like pasta so he was thrilled. Ok, he wasn't exactly thrilled, he said something like "Cool." ... that's how my husband exhibits "thrilled."
The original recipe uses an entire pound of orzo, but I cut it in half. My version is below.
Well 2012 has been the year of the mushroom as I have craved mushrooms for months straight. I'm adding them to everything, even when recipes don't call for them! In addition, the combination of mushrooms, wine, garlic, and thyme, just sends me over the top, so I was thrilled to find the following recipe. Also, my husband prefers rice to pasta and orzo is a rice-like pasta so he was thrilled. Ok, he wasn't exactly thrilled, he said something like "Cool." ... that's how my husband exhibits "thrilled."
The original recipe uses an entire pound of orzo, but I cut it in half. My version is below.
Baked Orzo with Fontina and Peas
INGREDIENTS
2 cups chicken broth
1/2 pound orzo pasta
2 tablespoons butter, plus more to grease the baking dish
1/2 onion, chopped
8 ounces mushrooms, sliced
3/4 cup Marsala wine (I used a red table wine that I had on hand)
1/4 cup heavy cream (I used 2% milk because that's what was in the fridge)
1/2 cup shredded fontina cheese (I used a pre-shredded parm, fontina, asiago mix)
1/2 diced fresh, diced mozzarella (fresh would be wonderful, I used the shreds)
DIRECTIONS
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Grease a casserole dish or 9x9 pan.
Bring the chicken broth to a boil over medium-high heat in a medium saucepan. Add the orzo and cook until almost tender, about 7 minutes. Pour the orzo and the broth into a large bowl. Set aside.
Meanwhile, melt the butter over medium heat in a medium skillet. Add the onions and saute until tender, about 3 minutes. Add the mushrooms and continue to saute until the mushrooms are beginning to turn golden around the edges, about 7 minutes. Add the Marsala. Scrape the brown bits off the bottom of the pan and cook until the Marsala has reduced by half, about 5 minutes. Add the mushroom mixture to the orzo in the large bowl. Add the cream, fontina, mozzarella, peas, salt, and pepper. Stir to combine. Pour the mixture into the prepared baking dish.
In a small bowl combine the bread crumbs, Parmesan, and dried thyme. Sprinkle the bread crumb mixture on top of the pasta. Bake until golden, about 25 minutes.
2 cups chicken broth
1/2 pound orzo pasta
2 tablespoons butter, plus more to grease the baking dish
1/2 onion, chopped
8 ounces mushrooms, sliced
3/4 cup Marsala wine (I used a red table wine that I had on hand)
1/4 cup heavy cream (I used 2% milk because that's what was in the fridge)
1/2 cup shredded fontina cheese (I used a pre-shredded parm, fontina, asiago mix)
1/2 diced fresh, diced mozzarella (fresh would be wonderful, I used the shreds)
1 cup frozen peas, thawed
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1/4 cup grated Parmesan (I used the same mix I mentioned above)
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1/4 cup grated Parmesan (I used the same mix I mentioned above)
1 teaspoon dried thyme
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Grease a casserole dish or 9x9 pan.
Bring the chicken broth to a boil over medium-high heat in a medium saucepan. Add the orzo and cook until almost tender, about 7 minutes. Pour the orzo and the broth into a large bowl. Set aside.
Meanwhile, melt the butter over medium heat in a medium skillet. Add the onions and saute until tender, about 3 minutes. Add the mushrooms and continue to saute until the mushrooms are beginning to turn golden around the edges, about 7 minutes. Add the Marsala. Scrape the brown bits off the bottom of the pan and cook until the Marsala has reduced by half, about 5 minutes. Add the mushroom mixture to the orzo in the large bowl. Add the cream, fontina, mozzarella, peas, salt, and pepper. Stir to combine. Pour the mixture into the prepared baking dish.
In a small bowl combine the bread crumbs, Parmesan, and dried thyme. Sprinkle the bread crumb mixture on top of the pasta. Bake until golden, about 25 minutes.
Nutrition:
The original recipe (with heavy cream and fresh mozz) is 350 calories per 1 cup serving. I imagine the substitutions lighten it up a bit, but My Fitness Pal was giving me problems tonight so I'll have to update this later.
Overall...
I thought this was good, but I'd make some changes in the future. First of all, I'd add several cloves of garlic to the onion and mushroom mix because I love, love, love garlic. I also thought it would be delicious to first saute a few strips of bacon, set it aside and cook the onions/garlic/mushroom mixture in the bacon grease and THEN add the chopped bacon to the mix. It was a great side dish, however, to a protein with a strong flavor. For example, I served this with spicy and salty tortilla-crusted tilapia (a store in my town sells these and they are amazing!). The orzo mix is a nice, mellow pairing with something like this fish.
It would also be good with additional veggies: broccoli, asparagus, and water chestnuts would be good (in any combination). Or you could toss some diced chicken into the mix as well. Because of it's versatility, this dish is definitely a keeper.
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