Lemon Orzotto

Yes I said Orzotto...haha. This recipe is really risotto but I decided to use orzo pasta in the dish instead! The blogger that put up this recipe mentioned at the bottom of her blog post that orzo works great in place of the traditional arborio rice! I had orzo on hand so I thought...why not give it a try!

Other ingredients I replaced were the mushrooms and instead used zucchini I had on hand, I used fresh tomatoes from someone's garden instead of sun dried tomatoes because thats what I had, I used turkey stock instead of chicken stock, and I mixed parmesan cheese with asiago cheese because I had that on hand. So as you can see, it is easy to find a replacement if you don't have something on hand for a certain dish, or if you don't like a certain ingredient you replace it with something else!

Ingredients

1 Tablespoon of butter

1 Tablespoon of olive oil

4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

1 small onion, halved and thinly sliced

2 small zucchini, halved and sliced

1 red pepper, diced

1/2 cup white wine

3 roma tomatoes, sliced

1 1/2 cups orzo (or arborio rice)

6 cups of stock (I used turkey)

1 Tablespoon freshly grated lemon zest

2 cups fresh spinach

1 cup of grated parmesan cheese (I did half parmesan, half asiago)

juice of half a lemon

4 tablespoons of 2% milk

Directions

1. In a large pan, heat up the butter and oil. Add onions and garlic. Cook on high for 2 minutes.

2. Add in zucchini and red peppers and cook for 5 minutes on medium heat.

3.  Put heat up on high and deglaze the pan with the white wine.

4. Let liquid reduce for a few minutes, and then add the tomatoes and orzo.

5. On medium heat, add in a cup of stock and CONTINUOUSLY STIR. When the liquid is almost all absorbed, add another half cup of stock and continuously add more when it is absorbed. Do so until the orzo is almost fully cooked (I tested it by tasting it). 

6. Add lemon zest, spinach, and cheese and keep cooking. The rest is up to your own perception...if it looks dry, add more stock, if it looks good to you...it is most likely good to go!

7. Once it is ready, add lemon juice, milk, and salt and pepper to taste!

Inspired by: iadorefood.com