Orzo with fresh herbs and chevre


Big thanks to one of my bestest friends, Alice, for this killer orzo recipe. She happened to mention it as something easy and delicious, that can be served warm or cold or in between. I love it already and am picturing a summer of orzo variations.

Ingredients
  • 1-2 cups orzo
  • 1/2 cup olive oil, divided
  • 1 lemon
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 3 T fresh oregano, chopped
  • salt and pepper
  • 4 ounces plain chèvre
  • 3 T fresh chives, chopped


Assembly
  1. Boil the orzo for 10 minutes, then drain and rinse with cold water. Drain again and toss with olive oil (about 1/4 cup or so) to prevent sticking.
  2. Meanwhile, prep the dressing. I juiced the lemon into a measuring cup, then added the chopped oregano and crushed garlic. Then I drizzled in the rest of the olive oil while whisking, to emulsify somewhat. I finished the dressing with a hefty pinch of salt.



  3. Toss the orzo in the dressing and season with pepper.
  4. Crumble the chèvre over all and finish with chopped chives.
That's it! I tried the result cold and found the lemon and garlic and chèvre came together marvelously. Tangy, sour, savory, light. I immediately started dreaming up variations. Using the above recipe as a base, you could add caramelized sweet onions, roasted red peppers, confetti of raw green peppers, handfuls of other herbs (fresh basil, tarragon, mint), olives, halved cherry tomatoes, baby bocconcini, edible flowers, blanched green beans, and on and on. I'm so excited--thanks sweetie for this recipe!


When chopping oregano I used our Nigella mezza luna.
Her little logo with cupcake rampant or whatever is so cute.

5 comments:

Unknown said...

Wow - this looks delicious! Great shot of the lemon, garlic, etc. too - I feel like I could reach out and touch it!

denise @ quickies on the dinner table said...

Never tried orzo but I LOVE everything else in the list. Hot or cold, or in between? My kinda recipe! Thanks for sharing :)

Anonymous said...

wow-thanks for the credit! I like your variation. I usually make the dressing...lemon, oil, garlic, s&p, then throw in the orzo while it's still warm-and toss it-then add oregano...but i think it doesn't matter. what do you think? oh yeah--forgot: add a can of drained chick peas in there for added protein if you'd like.
I got another one from Latina--quinoa with pine nuts--I can't stop eating it!

Alice said...

and finally: accidentally bought "honey" goat cheese and put it in anyway--if you have a sweet tooth, it will hit the spot maybe? i didn't like it. so check the label on the chevre!!!

"Prof. Kitty" said...

VW & denise, thanks!

And Alice thanks for your notes! I realize I did kind of skew the recipe towards the "cold" version, so glad to know how you do it. I like the chickpea idea--and different kinds of goat cheese would be delish depending on what one is going for.