Lately, I find myself obsessed with Orzo pasta. So much so that I think it may just be my current favourite pasta 😊

In our kitchen, we tend to use different types of pasta for specific pasta dishes based on our liking. For example, we use fusilli for our signature Cajun and vegetable stir-fried pasta, rigatoni or macaroni for baked cheese dishes, spaghetti for aglio olio, fettuccine or linguine for mushroom-cream sauce, penne or farfalle for pesto sauce and ravioli for butter or oil based sauces. Although this is not set in stone (sometimes we do switch up the type of pasta), this is generally the trend we have been following for many years. 

Orzo is a type of pasta that is shaped like a large grain of rice. Orzo is easy to cook and works well in soups, stews, salads, sides and even as an entrée paired with simple pasta sauces. We started using orzo only since last year. The first dish we made was orzo in pesto sauce which went down very well, especially with the kids. Then my husband used orzo in a baked cheesy casserole dish which turned out so great that it has made an appearance on our dinner table a few times since then. 

Recently, while browsing Instagram, I saw a delightful spring Recipe using orzo, asparagus, rocket, sun-dried tomatoes and roasted garlic on one of the feeds I follow. In the recipe, the orzo is toasted in butter to give off a nutty and buttery aroma and then cooked in a watery broth. Then fresh greens, asparagus and sun-dried tomatoes are added in, Italian cheese is added for creaminess, black pepper for heat and roasted garlic for that amazing flavour. I thought it looked really good so I saved the recipe immediately and tried it within the next few days. 

I made the orzo in the style of a risotto (with the consistency of thick porridge) and it was a super hit at home! I made a few substitutions - I used baby spinach instead of arugula/rocket since my kids are not too gung-ho about the latter and parmesan instead of pecorino romano cheese because that was what I had. I also scaled-up the recipe since I needed it to serve 5 people. Since I had deviated a little from the original recipe, I felt I needed to make it one more time to get the recipe proportions right. I made it again this weekend and the recipe turned out perfect!

This recipe doesn't have a whole lot of ingredients and comes together fairly easily. It is ideal for busy weeknight dinners and elegant enough for entertaining. You don't have any of that tedious stirring that comes with a risotto! The orzo risotto with roasted garlic, asparagus & spinach both looks and tastes wonderful. And the best part is that unlike leftover risotto that thickens and isn't very nice to eat the next day, this orzo still tastes nice after a night in the fridge (it tastes more like a pasta dish rather than risotto though). Refer the notes at the end of the recipe for tips, substitutions and suggestions. 

I hope you try this recipe and love it as much as we did!