Jostage Kitchen's Orzo Recipe

What is Orzo?
Until recently, I didn't even know what it was. It is a rice-shaped pasta, similar to risotto.  The way I'll be making this dish is through having the orzo soak up the "broth" that it cooks in, giving it a thick texture and rich flavor. This is a recipe that, to my knowledge, I have invented, with inspiration from Mediterranean cooking. It has been a favorite of mine, and several guests have enjoyed it as well. I hope you will too!



Ingredients
1 1/2 cups orzo
3 cups water
1 tsp salt
1/2 tbsp unsalted sweet cream butter
1 1/2 tbsp tomato paste
Dash of cinnamon
1/2 tbsp lime juice

Step 1: In a medium sized sauce pan, pour in 1 1/2 cups orzo, 2 1/4 cups water, and 1 tsp salt. Turn burner onto high. Stir orzo around as it begins to heat up. As pot heats up, add in the butter. This will give the dish its creaminess. Continue to stir pot's contents with a wooden spoon.

Another cooking tool that I use a lot is a wooden spoon. This dish requires a lot of stirring, and as such it's good to have a wooden spoon handy. Metal spoons, while they have their place, are not good for this kind of dish, as they may scratch your pot, which over time and repeated scratching causes food to stick to the pan/pot, and often burn.

Step 2:  When the water starts to boil, turn the heat to medium. At this same time, add in 1 tbsp of tomato paste. Continue to stir-if not, the orzo may begin to stick to the bottom of the pot (even if you've been using a wooden spoon all along!). If the orzo sticks repeatedly, I lower the heat even further, while continuing to stir. It's also important to stir continuously at this stage to break the tomato paste up.

Step 3: Once the tomato paste has broken up, turn heat to low and add in the remaining 1/2 tbsp of tomato paste. At this point, I also often add in another 1/4 of water if the orzo is getting too thick. It's a fine balance-you don't want too add too much water at the beginning, so the orzo doesn't get too watery. I usually start out with the 2 1/4 cups of water (as discussed in step one) and then gradually add more water (up to an additional 3/4 cup) to get the orzo to my desired thickness. I also add in a dash of cinnamon once the second addition of tomato paste has broken up. The cinnamon really gives this dish a very special and distinct flavor.

Step 4: After about 10-12 minutes, take a taste and determine whether the orzo is cooked to your liking. I like orzo, and all of my pasta, al dente, so  I'm careful not to over cook. I like my food to have a bit of acidity, so at this stage, I also add in 1/2 tbsp of lime juice-you can either use bottled lime juice or juice from 1/2 lime. Continue to cook on low heat until orzo is at your desired consistency.

Your Orzo is now ready to eat! Enjoy !

Total time: 15-20 minutes
Serves: 6