Orzo vert et vert et vert

Posted by Dana McMahan on March 26, 2008

Tonight my green and green and green dinner was an ode to the spring that's not quite here and a nod to the risotto vert et vert et vert at a I had at dinner at Restaurant du Palais Royale in Paris on a visit in the fall of 2006.

I started with Barbara Kingsolver's Zucchini Orzo [pdf] and tossed in some leftover baby spinach and parsley for the green times three, then topped it with toasted pine nuts for a little crunch. Aside from grating the zucchini (I used a cheese grater because I'm home alone this week and feared a bloody accident with the mandolin) the dish is painless and pretty quick. I'll make this again, but next time I'll add a little cayenne pepper for some kick. It would also be good with sautéed shrimp or a seared scallop or two.

Green and green and green orzo

1 cup orzo pasta (multicolored is fun)
4 cups vegetable stock

Bring stock to a boil and add pasta.

1 chopped onion
2 zucchini
1 Tbsp olive oil

As soon as you add the pasta to the stock begin sautéeing onion

Cook onion about 10 minutes while orzo boils

Meanwhile use a cheese grater or mandolin to shred zucchini, sauté briefly with chopped onion until lightly golden.

Drain orzo well after the 10 minutes

Herbs de Provence
¼ cup grated parmesan

Add spices to zucchini mixture, stir thoroughly, and remove mixture from heat. Combine with cheese and cooked orzo.

2 Tbsp pine nuts, toasted
Handful baby spinach
1/4 cup parsley

Stir in parsley and spinach. Allow spinach to wilt briefly. Salt to taste and top with pine nuts.

This will serve two for dinner with one lunch-sized leftover. I think I'll try it cold for lunch.

TAGS: Orzo, Spinach, Zucchini
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[ READER COMMENTS ]

1

D. said:

Your dishes always make me wish I had the ingredients on-hand. And that I was a halfway decent cook.

They all look delicious.

Posted at 05:40 PM, on March 27 2008

2

Dana McMahan said:

Thanks!
Half the fun of cooking is improvising. I set out to make orzo with zucchini but had the spinach and parsley in the fridge so added them at the last minute.

This dish really was easy. My husband is the far better cook, so when he's out of town I look for easy recipes.

Posted at 07:06 PM, on March 27 2008

Orzo vert et vert et vert

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