Monday, July 20, 2020

MONDAY RECIPE POST - ONE-POT CREAMY CHICKEN ORZO



This pasta dish was excellent and we were very happy with the way it turned out. I found it at a food blog called Kitchn and Yasmin Fahr was this recipe's author.  My thanks to Yasmin for an excellent dish.  This will be very nice to serve up for company, when things finally return to normal.  We are still very much in a wait and see mode, like many of our friends. 



One-Pot Creamy Chicken Orzo
Serves 4


1 tablespoon olive oil, plus more for serving
1 pound dried orzo
Kosher salt
4 1/4 cups water, divided (4 cups for cooking the orzo and 1/4 cup for later) 
1 pint grape tomatoes (about 2 cups), halved
4 cups baby spinach (about 4 ounces)
1-1/2 to 2 cups shredded, cooked chicken (from 1/2 rotisserie chicken)
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Freshly ground black pepper


Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a Dutch oven or large pot over medium heat until it gets hot.

Add 1 pound orzo, season lightly with kosher salt and cook, stirring constantly until toasted, about 1 minute.

Add 4 cups of the water and season with salt.

Bring to a boil over high heat and cook, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking, until the orzo is al dente and most of the water is absorbed, about 7 minutes.  You might need to lower the heat because we found that even with stirring, the orzo started to stick to the bottom of the pan, but don't turn it so low that it takes it off the boil.

Meanwhile, halve 1 pint grape tomatoes (about 2 cups).  Halving them prevents that hot liquid inside the tomato from burning you when you bite into one.

Reduce the heat to medium and stir in the tomatoes, 4 cups baby spinach, 1-1/2 to 2 cups shredded chicken, 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese, and the remaining 1/4 cup water.

Cook, stirring constantly, until the spinach is wilted, the chicken is warmed through, and the cheese is melted, about 2 minutes.

A creamy, cheesy sauce should have formed, but if it looks dry at any point, add one tablespoon at a time of warm water until you reach your desired consistency.

Finish with a drizzle of olive oil and some freshly ground black pepper.

Serve and enjoy!




Notes:

Storage: Leftovers can be refrigerated in an airtight container up to 4 days.

Enjoy leftovers as-is, warmed up with a splash of water to loosen up the sauce. 

Or, stir leftovers into vegetable or chicken stock for a quick and comforting soup. 

Either way, you can liven them up with more leafy greens, or other quick-cooking vegetables like mushrooms.

Denise's notes: 

The rotisserie chicken is a great idea but as I had chicken breasts already in the fridge, I used those after poaching them.

Not much else to say as we didn't change anything else.  It was delicious.  

We have leftovers for tomorrow's lunch.  It can only get better.

Wishing you good health.  
Thanks for visiting, and enjoy your day.






37 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. Thank you Ginny, I do too though this is only about the third time I have tried it and I am sold!

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  2. That does look delicious.
    Take care.

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    1. Thank you Margaret, glad you liked the look of it. You take care also :)

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  3. I had to look up orzo - but I am huge fan of one pot dishes. And if there are leftovers? Even better.

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    1. Thank you EC, I only discovered Orzo myself last year. One pot dishes are great and yes even better with those leftovers :)

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  4. Hello, Denise

    This recipe sounds delicious. I will book mark this to try later. Thanks for sharing. Take care! Have a great new week!

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    1. Thank you Eileen, you are very welcome. You take care and have a great week also :)

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  5. looks delicious, we're waiting to see as well.

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    1. Thanks Linda, and it's all that we can do isn't it? We are in the planning stage and ask each other, what's the first thing you want to do when this is all over :) Making plans but obviously philosophical.

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  6. It looks really good! As far as I know I have never eaten any and I don't recognize it have never seen it in the store or on a plate it looks a lot like big pieces of rice.

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    1. Hi Sandra, thank you! Funny you should say that, hubs reached for the brown rice thinking it was the orzo. Easy to do :)

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  7. Looks like a great recipe. And it looks good, too.

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  8. A 1-Pot recipe is super, any time. But especially in summer!!!!

    💚🌿💚

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  9. Looks great - I'd probably want to make it with just rice. I love chicken and rice. Pinned!

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    1. Thank you Carol, we have thought of making this with rice also. Glad you enjoyed it enough to pin :)

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  10. oh this sounds so good denise, i often use rice instead of orzo, but i do like orzo!! the leftovers would be good in some chicken stock, like you said...it would be a great soup!! i hope you are able to stay cool during this heat wave, and that you and greg are well and enjoying this alone time together!!

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    1. Hi Debbie, so happy you like the look of this. I will be making soup with this sometime. Staying cool thank you and I hope the same for you. We are enjoying our alone time together thank you. We never run out of things to say. We talk a LOT!!! LOL!

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  11. My family would really love this dish, Denise. We eat a lot of chicken here, so I'm always looking for new ways to prepare it. Thank you for featuring another lovely recipe.

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    1. Hi Martha Ellen, that’s great! Let me know what you think of it when you do. Hopefully it will be a big thumb’s up from everyone:)

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  12. I bet it IS good. A big plus for me is the parmesan cheese!

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    1. Thanks Anni, Parmesan is a big plus for us also.

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  13. As you can imagine, thankfully, we have all kinds of dried pasta in our store cupboard. At the beginning of the lockdown here it was difficult to get good quality dried pasta. I like pasta soup, adding some vegetables to make it more nutritious. This recipe must make a tasty supper meal.

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    1. Thank you Linda :) Our tried and true favorite pasta is Angel Hair but I have enjoyed others when making Italian recipes. Pasta soup is something I would like to try.

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  14. Yum, Denise!
    This sounds and looks delicious.

    All the best Jan

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    1. So glad you think so Jan and all the best to you too :)

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  15. Love Orzo such a handy pasta, I use it often. Take care Diane

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    1. Thank you Diane :) It is a new pasta to me and I have only tried it once before but that will change. You take care also :)

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