Caramelized Onion Orzo...
...and checking in on you during the "may-cember" craziness
Good morning, friends! I hope this busy time of year doesn’t have you too stressed out. And if it does, take a deep breath, we’ll get through it!
They say “March comes in like a lion”, but boy it feels like May should take that spot! And while I realize I may mostly be speaking to those of you with school age children who are finishing the year and cramming all the last things in, we would never leave out the grandparents also running from kindergarten performances to high school graduations and everything in between, or those of you who have lists of things that need to be done before you head out on a summer vacation.
It’s a lot. Last year about this time our newsletter introduced the term “May-cember” and we talked about ways to still plan for dinner even though our heads and hands are full getting other things done. I may have to refer back to those easy lists, menus, and planning tactics as we head into the last weeks of school with a big church conference and a Europe trip closing in fast.
Today’s recipe for Caramelized Onion Orzo may not seem like a “wow the weather just got HOT” kind of recipe, but it is a cozy, one-dish pasta that I certainly find comforting when my brain feels over-worked and stressed. At the end of a long day, I would love nothing more than just to sit with a bowl of creamy pasta and a spoon. I’d even let go of our dinner-is-at-the-table rule, and say let’s just curl up on the couch.
This pasta is not a 30 minute meal, as it takes a bit for the onions to caramelize, but you don’t have to stand there the whole time, and the recipe is not complicated. All-in-all, it falls in my “doesn’t require too much brain power” category. And the result of caramelizing those onions, stirring in orzo pasta until tender, and letting a Boursin cheese turn it into a pot of creamy goodness (with a little more cheese on top, of course) is too good to pass up. You can serve it in a pasta bowl as a vegetarian main dish or alongside a simple grilled or roasted meat and veggies for a full plate. Either way, it’s a winner.
That’s all for today, as as I too have a list of other things that need to be done! Back next week with another one-skillet dinner!
MONDAY - Spaghetti and Meatballs, Salad, Bread
Can’t go wrong with a classic! I’ll make the meatballs earlier in the day and just pop the tray in the fridge. Then all I have to do is bake them off, make a quick marinara, and boil some pasta. Lettuce from the garden to make a salad, and a good loaf of bread from the farmers’ market to complete it all.
TUESDAY - Out to Eat/Celebration Dinner
It’s awards night at school, so in celebration of all his accomplishments the Kiddo gets to pick where we eat dinner! (And I get a night off!)
WEDNESDAY - Chicken Piccata, Pearl Couscous, Roasted Carrots and Onions
Chicken cutlets in a lemon-caper sauce that can be spooned over herbed pearl couscous. The carrots and onions roast up nice and sweet which is a great complement to the tart lemon flavor of the piccata.
THURSDAY - Sicilian-Style Pizza, “The Works”
Cookbook Recipe - This week’s recipe is from Pizza Night (page 174), by Alexandra Stafford. Pizza at home is always fun since I can get the boys involved helping me put all the toppings on. This one has sausage, peppers, onions, and mushrooms - just like we order for take-out! I’ll have to make the dough ahead of time, but it doesn’t look hard.
FRIDAY - Friday Night Pick-Up!
SATURDAY - Dinner at Yaya’s (the in-laws)!
Dirty rice and lima beans. A great fall back plan for when we’re out of ideas!
SUNDAY - Dinner at Dad’s!
He found his “grill wok” so we’re doing diced and marinated squash and zucchini in the wok and grilled pork chops along with a roasted tomato and burrata salad.
LUNCHES for this week -
I got a cauliflower at the market to make a yellow curry with chickpeas and some swiss chard from the garden. I’ll serve it with the brown rice and quinoa mix I experimented with last week. (Which came out okay, but needs some tweaking to taste like those Seeds of Change packets.)
EXTRAS for this week
It’s cookie time! I’m in charge of making cookies for the big Annual Conference at our church in June - 400 chocolate chip and 150 oatmeal cream pies (which means 300 oatmeal cookies…) It’s do-able if I start making and freezing cookie dough now, so any extra time this week and next is spent hanging out with my mixer.
WEEK 19 - Hühnerfrikassee (Chicken Fricassee) - Luisa Weiss, Classic German Cooking (page 144)
I’ve never had or made a “fricassee”, but this chicken stew turned out to be one of those classic homestyle comfort food type dishes.
I followed the full recipe, cooking a whole chicken in a pot to shred the meat and use the broth it made, which wasn’t hard, but did take a while. (I had planned ahead and knew it would take time.) After the chicken was done, the recipe came together very quickly and easily, just sautéing some onions, thickening the broth into a hearty sauce and adding the mushrooms to cook for a few minutes before stirring the chicken and some frozen peas back in.
While it did take time and planning to simmer the chicken for an hour and half, I was reminded how nice it is to have that aroma floating through the house. I didn’t mind pulling the chicken off the bone and shredding it, but if I was pressed for time, I would use either rotisserie or leftover chicken (as the head note suggests as a substitute) to make this a really easy, fast dinner.
We served it over fresh split open biscuits, which was fun and different, but as the recipe says, it would be great with rice or noodles as well.
One note, it’s one of those recipes that just says “season with salt to taste”, which drives me nuts - give me some kind of guideline or place to start. So you do have to taste along the way; I didn’t do a good job of that, and our was a little under-salted. (Which I guess is better than over-salted.)
I can see this as being a great recipe for days when you need something to come together fast. (It’ll go on my doesn’t use too much brain power list for sure!)
Caramelized Onion Orzo
Makes 4 main dish servings or 6 side dish servings
· 2 tablespoons Olive Oil
· 3 medium Onions, thinly sliced
· ½ teaspoon kosher Salt (Morton or other store brand)
· ¼ teaspoon ground Black Pepper
· Several sprigs fresh Thyme
· 3 cloves Garlic, minced
· 2 tablespoons Butter
· 1 pound Orzo Pasta
· ½ cup dry White Wine (such as Pinot Grigio or Sauvignon Blanc)
· 4 cups Chicken or Vegetable Broth
· 5.3-ounce package of Caramelized Onion and Herb Boursin
· 1 cup grated Gruyere Cheese
Heat the olive oil in a large, deep-sided skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add the sliced onions, salt, pepper, and sprigs of thyme. Cook for 3-4 minutes at this temperature. Reduce heat to medium, add a splash of water (about ¼ cup), and cover the pan. Cook, lifting the lid to stir every once in a while, for about 30 minutes until very soft and golden brown. You may need to keep reducing the heat to medium-low or add another splash of water to keep the onions from sticking and burning. (I keep a small cup of water by the stove when caramelizing onions so I can easily add a little bit when needed.)
After the onions have caramelized, remove the thyme stems. Add the garlic and butter. Return the heat to medium (if you lowered it) and cook for about 2 minutes until the butter has melted. Stir in the dry orzo, then the wine. Bring to a simmer and cook for a couple of minutes until most of the wine is absorbed. Stir in the broth, return to a simmer, then reduce the heat to medium-low. Continue simmering, uncovered, for 30 minutes until the pasta is tender and the mixture is thickened. Stir often, as orzo has a tendency to stick.
Add the Boursin cheese and stir until melted and creamy. Remove the pan from the heat, top with the gruyere cheese, and replace the lid for 5 minutes.
Serve as a side dish or a vegetarian main dish.
That’s all for now, thanks for reading! See you back here next week!
(Don’t forget you can see all of the past newsletters and recipes at the archive link below!)
All recipes categorized by type can be found in the index!