Tag: orzo

Soups and Stews

Creamy Butternut Squash and Sausage Soup

cathysmahaLeave a comment

This 30 minute, one pot soup is easy and delicious. I love a recipe that comes together so easily and delivers the flavor!

Creamy Butternut Squash and Sausage Soup

INGREDIENTS:
  • 15 oz spicy Italian sausage crumbled
  • 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning or Herbs from Provence
  • 1 tablespoon fresh thyme (no sprigs, just leaves)
  • red pepper flakes to taste (if sausage is spicy, you may want to skip the pepper flakes)
  • 1 cup orzo uncooked
  • 4 cloves garlic minced
  • 5 cups chicken stock
  • 10 oz butternut squash peeled and cubed
  • 5 oz fresh spinach
  • ½ cup heavy cream (I used half and half)
  • ⅓ cup Parmesan cheese shaved, shredded, or grated (for garnish)
DIRECTIONS:
  1. Add crumbled Italian sausage, Italian seasoning, a generous amount of fresh thyme (no sprigs, just leaves), and red pepper flakes to a large saucepan. Cook on medium heat, regularly stirring to break the sausage.
  2. Once the sausage released juices and is half cooked, add 1 cup of uncooked orzo and minced garlic, and cook, constantly stirring, for about 2 minutes on medium heat to brown the orzo.
  3. Add 5 cups of chicken stock and cubed butternut squash, stir everything well, cover with the lid, bring to a boil, reduce to visible simmer, and cook for about 5 or 10 minutes until the orzo and butternut squash is cooked.
  4. Add spinach to the soup, cover with the lid and let it wilt on low heat, occasionally stirring.
  5. Once the spinach has wilted, remove the soup from the heat and add heavy cream. Stir everything and season with salt and pepper. Add more chicken stock (or water) if the soup is too dense. Add more red pepper flakes, if you like. Top with Parmesan cheese (shaved, shredded, or grated) and fresh thyme.

Recipe from JuliasAlbum

Pastas

Creamy Butternut Squash Orzo with Sausage

cathysmahaLeave a comment

Creamy Butternut Squash Orzo with Sausage is the perfect comfort meal for a cold, wintery day. It packs so much flavor with the creamy goodness of the Orzo. Often, I tire of leftovers, but not this Orzo dish. Just writing about it makes me want to run to the kitchen and make it again.

Creamy Butternut Squash Orzo with Sausage

INGREDIENTS:
  • 12 oz Italian sausage casings removed (I used 3 sausage links)
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • ½ cup chicken broth
  • 1 cup butternut squash puree
  • 3 cloves garlic minced
  • 10 oz orzo uncooked
  • 2 tablespoons fresh sage chopped
  • 2 tablespoons fresh thyme
  • salt and coarsely ground black pepper to taste
DIRECTIONS:
  1. Remove the sausage from casings, and slice the sausage. Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil on medium heat in a large, high-sided skillet.
  2. Add sliced sausage and cook on medium heat for about 4 minutes on one side, without turning, to get the sausage slices browned. Flip over to the other side and cook for 2 more minutes.
  3. Make creamy butternut squash sauce: To the same skillet with sausage, add heavy cream, chicken stock, butternut squash puree, 1 T. sage, and minced garlic.
  4. Bring the sauce to a boil on medium heat, reduce to low-medium heat, stir everything well. Cook for about 5 or more minutes. Make sure the garlic is cooked to your liking, and the sauce thickens. Cook longer if you would like a thicker sauce. Remove from heat.
  5. While the sauce cooks for 5 or more minutes, cook the orzo as described below.
  6. Cook orzo: Bring a pot of water to boil. Cook orzo according to package instructions. In my case, I cooked orzo al dente for 7 minutes in a pot of boiling water. Remove from heat. Drain but do not rinse.
  7. Assembly: Add cooked orzo to the skillet with creamy butternut squash and sausage. Stir in half of the fresh sage and half of the fresh thyme.
  8. Cook over medium-high heat for 2 minutes. Remove from heat.
  9. Season with salt and freshly ground coarse black pepper.
  10. Tip: use your best judgment about the salt. If the sausage is salty enough, you might not need to add any extra salt.
  11. When serving, top with the remaining half of the fresh sage and the remaining half of the fresh thyme.

Recipe from Julia’s Album

Pastas · Salads

Peach Prosciutto Hot Honey Orzo Salad

cathysmahaLeave a comment

Do you have dishes that you dream about and can’t wait to have again? Peach Prosciutto Hot Honey Orzo Salad is one of mine. This dish is so easy to make and a wonderful cool salad for those hot summer days.

Peach Prosciutto Hot Honey Orzo Salad

INGREDIENTS:
  • Hot Honey Vinaigrette 
    1/2 cup olive oil
    2-3 tbsp hot honey*
    1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
    1 & 1/2 tsp dijon
    1 clove garlic, minced
    salt to taste
  • Orzo Salad
    4 oz prosciutto or pancetta, chopped
    4  cups cooked orzo
    2 large yellow peaches, chopped
    8 oz mozzarella pearls
    1/4 cup fresh chopped basil
DIRECTIONS:
  1. First make the honey honey vinaigrette by combining all of the ingredients in a jar or container. Mix well and taste. Add more hot honey or salt if desired. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.
  2. Add the chopped prosciutto to a skillet over medium heat. Cook until crispy then set aside.
  3. Assemble your orzo salad by combining orzo, chopped peaches, crispy prosciutto, mozzarella pearls and chopped basil in a large bowl.
  4. Drizzle on the hot honey vinaigrette. Toss and enjoy!

Recipe from DashofMandi

Italian Dishes · New Favorite · Soups and Stews

Italian Wedding Soup

cathysmahaLeave a comment

Welcome to 2022! Italian Wedding Soup was on the menu after seeing this recipe on one of my favorite blogs, IowaGirlEats. I had the ingredients on hand and needed to take a meal to my daughter after giving birth to my 5th grandbaby. Be careful that you don’t eat all for the tiny meatballs when they come out of the oven. They are delicious! Next time I would make a double or triple batch of the meatballs, so I would have them in the freezer when I want to make the soup. Serve with a hearty Italian bread.

Italian Wedding Soup

INGREDIENTS:
  • 1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 medium carrots, thinly sliced (~1 cup)
  • 2 celery stalks, thinly sliced (~1 cup)
  • 1 large shallot or small onion, chopped
  • salt and pepper
  • 10 cups chicken stock
  • 1 parmesan cheese wedge rind (optional)
  • 3/4 cup dry gluten free orzo
  • 3oz fresh baby spinach, roughly chopped
  • 1 egg
  • 2 Tablespoons freshly grated parmesan cheese
  • For the Pork Meatballs (makes ~75 meatballs):
    • 1/2 cup small-torn pieces of soft gluten free white bread (crusts removed first)
    • 1/4 cup finely grated onion + juices
    • 1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
    • 1 egg, whisked
    • 2 cloves garlic, microplaned, pressed, or finely minced
    • 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
    • 1/2 teaspoon salt
    • Pepper, to taste
    • 1lb ground pork (I used Italian Sausage)
DIRECTIONS:
  1. For the Meatballs: Preheat oven to 400 degrees then line a half sheet pan with parchment paper or non stick sprayed foil. To a large bowl add torn bread and grated onion then mix to combine and let sit for 1 minute. Add parmesan cheese, egg, garlic, Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper then stir to combine. Crumble ground pork over the top then use your hands to mix until just combined.
  2. Use a teaspoon to portion meatballs out then gently roll in your hands and place on prepared baking sheet – meatballs can be very close together but not touching. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown and cooked to an internal temperature of 160 degrees. Set meatballs aside – can be done a few days ahead of time.
  3. Meanwhile, heat extra virgin olive oil in a large soup pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add carrots, celery, and shallot/onion, season with salt and pepper, then saute until the vegetables are tender, 8-10 minutes. If the vegetables are taking too long to soften, I like to add a glug of extra chicken broth to the pot then place a lid on top and let them steam for a few minutes.
  4. Add chicken stock and parmesan cheese rind (if using) then turn heat up to high to bring liquid to a boil. Add pasta then turn heat down to medium-low and simmer until pasta is al dente, 20 minutes or so. Add cooked meatballs then stir to combine. Bring soup back up to a bubble (may need to turn heat up a touch) then add spinach and cook until wilted and tender, 2-3 minutes.
  5. Whisk egg and parmesan cheese together very well in a small dish. Give the soup a couple of big stirs to get the liquid swirling in one direction then slowly stream in egg mixture. Continue to stir to create small threads of egg (NOTE: the eggs are NOT curdled, they are COOKED – like egg drop soup!) Taste then add more salt and/or pepper if desired. Let soup sit and thicken for 10-15 minutes before removing parmesan cheese rind, scooping into bowls, and serving.

Recipe from Iowagirleats