Orzo Pasta Three Ways

I love cooking with orzo pasta because it is super versatile. It doesn't matter if you made a salad, a creamy dish or a pasta with vegetables, the texture will stand out in every bite. The flavors in this recipe are not too strong, so it gives us the opportunity to create other meals with what we have left over. I made this recipe with two cups of orzo, we had dinner and with the rest I made a salad for lunch the next day. Two days later I made a creamy pasta by heating the orzo in a small pot with some milk, cauliflower rice (that I had in the freezer) and cheese. For the salad I mixed some of the pasta with diced tomatoes, feta cheese, extra virgin olive oil, salt, pepper and dried oregano. You can also add it to a soup! When you cook this recipe let me know what combination you created!

Serves: 6 Prep time: 10 mins Cooking time: 8/10 mins Total time: 20 mins

Ingredients:

2 tablespoon butter½ diced onion

3 garlic cloves minced

2 cups orzo

4 cups broth or water

Zest and juice of 2 lemons

3 celery stick ½ bunch of asparagus

Dried thyme

Parmesan cheese

Salt and Pepper

Leftovers version #1

Tomato

Feta

Olive oil

Leftovers version #2

Milk

Cheese

Frozen rice cauliflower

Directions:

1. In a frying pan melt the butter, add the onion and sauté

2. Add the chopped garlic and cook until the onions are golden brown

3. Add the thyme, salt and pepper

4. Add the pasta, broth, chopped asparagus and celery sticks (whole)

5. Stir

6. Over medium high heat bring to a boil

7. Reduce heat to low

8. Cover and cook until all the liquid has evaporated and the pasta is aldente

9. Add the lemon zest and a splash of lemon juice

10. Serve with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, more lemon and parmesan cheese

Tips:

If you don't have broth and have a little more time, you can add the water and celery to the sautéed onion and simmer for about 20 minutes for the water to pick up some flavor, then continue with step 4 and finish the recipe!