This dish is a pleasant mix of Italian flavors that can transport you straight to the guts of Tuscany.
With substances like orzo, sun-dried tomatoes, spinach, garlic, Parmesan cheese, and onions, this recipe just isn’t solely tasty but additionally easy to organize.
Whether or not you’re serving it alongside a principal course or having fun with it as a light-weight lunch, Creamy Tuscan Orzo is bound to please your style buds and match inside your dietary targets.
The Elements
Orzo: A kind of brief reduce pasta that’s low in fats and wealthy in carbohydrates, which supplies a gradual supply of vitality. It additionally has a better fiber content material than rice.
Solar-Dried Tomatoes: Not like contemporary tomatoes, their intense style comes from the dehydration course of, which removes water however leaves behind all of the important flavors and vitamins.
Full of antioxidants like lycopene, sun-dried tomatoes usually are not simply flavorful but additionally extremely nutritious. Lycopene is understood for its potential well being advantages, together with decreasing the danger of sure continual illnesses and selling coronary heart well being.
These tomatoes are additionally wealthy in nutritional vitamins C and Ok, together with important minerals resembling iron and potassium.
Recent Spinach: This leafy inexperienced is filled with nutritional vitamins A, C, and Ok, all of that are important for sustaining good well being. Vitamin A is essential for imaginative and prescient and immune operate, vitamin C helps the immune system and pores and skin well being, and vitamin Ok is necessary for blood clotting and bone well being.
Moreover, spinach is an effective supply of iron, which helps transport oxygen all through the physique, and calcium, which is important for bone well being.
Incorporating spinach into this dish is a superb approach to enhance its dietary content material with out including many energy.
Rooster Broth: I used this as an alternative of water so as to add extra taste to the orzo. If you would like a vegetarian dish you might use vegetable broth as an alternative.
Fats Free Half and Half: As a substitute of utilizing cream I used fats free half and half. It provides creaminess to the dish at a fraction of the factors.
Parmesan Cheese: Shredded Parmesan cheese provides a wealthy, salty, savory taste to the orzo.
Yellow Onion: Utilizing yellow onion added a style of sweetness to the dish. I sautéed the onion in additional virgin olive oil earlier than including the orzo.
Garlic: Recent garlic is a should for this recipe. Utilizing a garlic press makes it very straightforward to mince the garlic.
Seasonings: Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper have been used to season the orzo.
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How you can Make Creamy Tuscan Orzo
I restricted the quantity of oil on this recipe so it’s finest to make use of a nonstick skillet.
Warmth the nonstick skillet over medium warmth. Add the olive oil and chopped onions.
Sauté the onions for 3 minutes. Add the minced garlic and proceed to sauté for 1 minute.
Add the orzo, rooster broth, fats free half and half, solar dried tomatoes, and Italian seasoning to the pan. Deliver it to a boil then cut back the warmth to medium-low and simmer for 8 minutes.
Stir the spinach and Parmesan cheese into the orzo and prepare dinner for 1 minute.
Serving Strategies
Creamy Tuscan Orzo pairs excellently with grilled rooster breast or fish. Each might be ready so they’re 0 factors or low in factors.
For a vegetarian choice, think about serving it alongside roasted greens or a hearty vegetable stew. Merely exchange the rooster broth within the orzo with vegetable broth.
In the event you’re in search of one thing lighter, a contemporary backyard salad with a easy French dressing dressing could be a nice accompaniment.
For a extra indulgent choice, think about serving Creamy Tuscan Orzo with a facet of garlic bread or focaccia. The bread can be utilized to scoop up any remaining sauce, making the meal much more pleasing.
Creamy Tuscan Orzo
Yield: 8 servings (1/3 cup per serving)
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Elements
-
1
cup
orzo (raw) -
2
cups
rooster broth -
1/4
cup
fats free half and half -
1
teaspoon
additional virgin olive oil -
1
small yellow onion, finely chopped -
2
cloves
garlic, minced -
1/2
teaspoon
Italian seasoning -
1/2
cup
solar dried tomatoes -
1
cup
child spinach, packed -
1/2
cup
Parmesan cheese, shredded - Salt and pepper, to style
Directions
-
Add the oil to a nonstick skillet over medium warmth. Add the chopped onions and sauté for 3 minutes. Add the minced garlic and proceed to sauté for 1 minute.
-
Add the orzo, rooster broth, solar dried tomatoes, fats free half and half, and Italian seasoning. Deliver it to a boil then cut back the warmth to medium-low and simmer for 8 minutes, stirring sometimes.
-
Stir the spinach and Parmesan cheese into the orzo and prepare dinner for 1 minute. It is best served when heat.
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