Orzo

Four small chicken breasts
2 pints of cherry tomatoes
1 or 2 heads of garlic cloves peeled
2 cups of orzo
1 cup of parsley leaves (I don’t like the stems, so I pluck the leaves)
1 lemon
2 tablespoons of capers
Sea salt flakes, ground pepper, olive oil

Arrange the shelves in the oven to make room for the baking dish with the chicken and the baking pan with the tomatoes to go in together— I put the chicken just below the middle and the tomatoes and garlic just above the middle. Get the oven going at 400°. Put the cherry tomatoes and peeled garlic cloves and capers in a bowl. Toss with a little olive oil, spread this out on a baking sheet and sprinkle with some sea salt flakes. Place the chicken breasts in a baking dish and sprinkle with salt and fresh cracked pepper. If the baking dish doesn’t have a lid, cover with foil; I use an 11 cup Anchor Hocking baking dish with a glass lid which is good for up to four not too big chicken breasts. Put everything in the oven. The tomatoes will take around 30 minutes to shrivel up and get some brown spots. I usually just leave the chicken in until everything is done, but you can test it around 20 minutes; if it looks cooked through when you pierce it with a knife or the instant read thermometer says it’s 165º, it’s done. You can take it out and let stay warm on the stove.

While the tomatoes are roasting, start a pot for your orzo and bring it to a boil; salt the water if you wish. Orzo usually takes 10 minutes, so try to plot for it to be done when the chicken and tomatoes come out. While you’re waiting, finely chop some parsley for the orzo, and have some lemon wedges ready— I take out any pips that I can see. Set your bowls on the stove to let them warm up a bit.

When the tomatoes and garlic and capers are shriveled up and brown in spots, it’s ready. Drain the orzo and put it back in the pot; drizzle with some olive oil and fold in the parsley and maybe some salt. Take the chicken and tomatoes out of the oven and slice or dice the chicken in the baking dish or on a cutting board. Now it comes together: every bowl gets some orzo, a few slices of chicken, tomatoes and garlic. Then I finish the dish with a few capers and a splash of lemon juice. This might work with fish, maybe tilapia dredged and pan fried. The orzo could be any small pasta (little shells with fish could be nice) or even rice, quinoa, or couscous.

Update February 2016: I made this with quinoa instead of orzo and I like it just a much.

For this four person version, you’ll need:
2 medium or 1 large filet of sole for each person (cut large ones in half lengthwise)
2 cups of orzo
2 crowns of broccoli
3 carrots
1 or 2 yellow squash (depending on size)
Garlic cloves (I used 4 cloves vegetables and 4 in the sauce)
1 lemon
2 cups of parsley leaves (I don’t like the stems, so I pluck the leaves)
Salt, ground pepper, olive oil (or other mild oil)
Optional: sea salt flakes, lemon wedges, fresh cracked pepper

Cooking equipment I used:
Saute or frying pan for the vegetables (I used a 12″ frying pan)
Sheet pan lined with parchment if needed for the fish (I used a 13×18 because that’s what I have, but it could be smaller, even a toaster oven pan)
3 qt saucepan for the orzo

Get the oven going at 400°F.

Start with the the sauce so it can have a little time for the flavors to come together. Combine about two cups of finely chopped parsley with the zest and juice of one lemon, around a third of a cup of olive oil, a teaspoon of salt, and one to four or more garlic cloves —finely chopped or run through a garlic press. I use the zest and juice of one lemon to be economical and as many a four cloves of garlic and enough olive oil to give it the consistency of a sauce. You could also blitz it in a small food processor or one of those bullet things.

Next, get a pot of water going on high for the orzo and set your bowls on the stove to warm.

While the water’s heating up, rinse and dry the sole. On a baking sheet, with parchment paper if needed, brush the fish with olive oil and sprinkle with fresh cracked pepper and sea salt flakes; then roll the fish up bow to stern and repeat with olive oil, salt, and pepper on the outside. Put fish on baking pan.

Then set to work on your vegetables. Get the pan warming up on medium with a teaspoon or so of olive oil and a little salt. I cut the carrots and squash into thin half-moons and the broccoli into small half-florets (you can save the stems for slaw).

The water for the orzo should be ready now, so that can go in. It usually takes around nine minutes, but go with whatever the box says.

Then saute the vegetables. I turn the pan up to medium-high and put the carrots in first for a minute or so, then the broccoli, and then the squash. If you want to avoid using a pan, you could also boil the vegetables in with the orzo by adding the carrots the last four minutes and the broccoli and squash for the last three to two depending on the thickness. When the vegetables are almost ready, add one to four of more garlic cloves—finely chopped or run through a garlic press.

Once the orzo is in and the vegetables are sauteing, the fish can have its turn in the oven. The fish is ready when an instant read thermometer says 145ºF or when a fork or knife can easily go through the thickest part. This is somewhere around seven minutes.

Finish with lemon and sea salt.

Tag: Orzo

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