| Level: | Easy |
| Total: | 45 min |
| Active: | 35 min |
| Yield: | 2 to 4 servings |
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons salted butter
- 1/2 yellow onion, diced fine
- 1 garlic clove, grated
- 2 cups uncooked orzo
- 6 cups vegetable or chicken broth, warmed
- 1 teaspoon dry mustard
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper
- 2 pounds broccoli florets, cut into small pieces (can use frozen)
- One 4-ounce jar pimientos
- 1 1/2 cups grated Cheddar
- 1 cup processed cheese
- Chopped fresh parsley, for garnish
Instructions
- Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium-high heat, then add the onion and garlic and saute until softened, 1 to 2 minutes.
- Add the orzo and stir until thoroughly mixed with the onion and garlic and coated in the butter, a minute or so. Add a third of the broth and stir gently, then bring to the boil. Add the dry mustard, cayenne, salt and pepper and cook until the liquid has been absorbed by the orzo, 3 to 4 minutes, then add another third of the broth. Cook, stirring, until this, too, has been absorbed, another 3 to 4 minutes.
- Add the broccoli followed by the remaining broth and the pimientos, then bring to the boil. Cook until the broccoli and orzo are almost cooked, 8 to 10 minutes. Add the cheeses, stirring, and cook until completely melted and smooth and the broccoli and orzo are cooked through, another 1 to 2 minutes.
- Taste and adjust the seasonings as needed.
- Transfer to serving bowls and garnish with the fresh parsley.
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size | 1 of 4 servings |
| Calories | 793 |
| Total Fat | 40 g |
| Saturated Fat | 21 g |
| Carbohydrates | 69 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 3 g |
| Sugar | 8 g |
| Protein | 43 g |
| Cholesterol | 110 mg |
| Sodium | 1757 mg |
Reviews
This was delicious. I only made 1/2 of it since there’s just my husband & me.
I added rotisserie chicken which I had cut up previously & froze in “meal size” pkgs.
I never use “processed” cheese. I found ABOUT 1/2 cup of cheddar was fine. It seems to me, it was just to “tie” the rest of the ingredients together. Couldn’t really taste it.
I added some small pieces of red pepper, as another poster had mentioned, just to give the recipe added color. Couldn’t really taste the small pies. Maybe if they had been bigger, we could have.
I added rotisserie chicken which I had cut up previously & froze in “meal size” pkgs.
I never use “processed” cheese. I found ABOUT 1/2 cup of cheddar was fine. It seems to me, it was just to “tie” the rest of the ingredients together. Couldn’t really taste it.
I added some small pieces of red pepper, as another poster had mentioned, just to give the recipe added color. Couldn’t really taste the small pies. Maybe if they had been bigger, we could have.
So good! I have been wanting to make this since it aired! We loved it. I couldn’t decide which of the two
Orzo recipes to cook so I picked this one and used mascarpone in place of the processed cheese and it was excellent super creamy!
Orzo recipes to cook so I picked this one and used mascarpone in place of the processed cheese and it was excellent super creamy!
Have made several times. Kids love it and I love it!!!!
I have a question rather than a review. This recipe calls for “processed cheese”. To what kind of cheese does this refer? White American? Or Velveeta? Please help me to clarify … Thank you.
1 1/2 cups grated Cheddar and 1 cup processed cheese. The weight of the amount of cheese in 1.5Cups is variable depending on the amount of air between all of the shreds, not packed down in the cup. It looked like large cubed Velveeta in the show. What would be the weight of big Velveeta cubes in a cup measure? It is confusing that an ounce can be either weight or volume. I like metric – a gram is weight – a liter is volume. Kitchen scales cos tabout the same as a McDonald’s dinner. Recipe ingredients should be measured by weight where practical.
Instead of processed cheese I used 1/2 a block of all natural cream cheese. I also cut the cayenne down to 1/4 of tsp and for us that was just right. We ate ours as a side dish so we had more than four servings
Delicious! It was pretty thick so next time I will add 2 extra cups of chicken broth as others did and half the cayenne. My husband liked the kick, but I’m a bit of a wimp when it comes to spicy. I might also add grilled chicken breast. Serving size says 2-4, but I think 2 people would be hard pressed to consume all that. There are 2 of us and we got 3 very hearty meals out of it (6 servings).
ALL THE STARS. I added bacon too, because why not?
This was absolutely delicious! Kiddo loved it. I used the dry mustard like the recipe said and it was still amazing. I think next time I’ll try it with chicken since it might be becoming a regular in the house.
This was DELISH tonight for dinner, with an awesome grilled steak by my hubs! I did oversalt it a bit, and plan to use less salt and/or low sodium chicken stock next time! YUM!