Orzo With Chicken, Red Pepper, and Shiitakes

Submitted by -Mar-

"A lightened version of a recipe in Food&Wine's one dish meals."

 

• Ready In: 40mins
• Ingredients: 12
• Serves: 4

ingredients

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast
• 1 1⁄8 teaspoons salt
• 3⁄8 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
• 2 red bell peppers, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
• 1⁄4 lb shiitake mushroom, stems removed, caps cut into 1/4 inch slices
• 1⁄2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1⁄2 lb orzo pasta
• 4 ounces mild goat cheese
• 1⁄3 cup skim milk
• 1⁄4 cup chopped fresh parsley

directions

1. In a large nonsstick frying pan, heat 1 tablespoon oil over moderate heat. Season the chicken with 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon black pepper. Put the chicken in the pan and cook for 5 minutes. Turn and cook until just done, about 5 minutes longer. Remove. When the chicken is cool enough to handle, cut the breasts crosswise into 1/4 inch slices.
2. Heat 2 tablespoon oil in the same pan over moderately high heat. Put in the bell pepper, shiitakes, thyme, and 1/8 teaspoon salt. Cook, stirring frequently until the mushrooms are golden brown, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook, stirring for 30 seconds longer. Remiove from the heat.
3. In a large pot of boiling water, cook orzo according to package directions. Drain, reserving 1/2 cup of pasta water.
4. In the frying pan, combine the reserved pasta water with the goat cheese, milk, 3/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Bring almost to a simmer over moderate heat, stirring until smooth, about 2 minutes. Add the orzo, chicken and 3 tablespoons of the parsley. Serve topped with remaining tablespoon parsley.

Reviews

[Basil and Oregano]

Absolutely fantastic! Easy to make vegetarian too with "Chickenless Chicken." A great crowd-pleaser and colorful dish. Thanks for posting!

 

[cm107]

Great!! Easy and tasty! I cut up the chicken into bite size pieces first, used only 1 large red pepper, equal amount of cut up asparagus. Then to keep the calories down, I used only 2 ounces of goat cheese, and chicken broth instead of skim milk. It was yummy!!! This will go into the dinner in a hurry file!

 

[kawli]

<a href="/190901">Orzo With Chicken, Red Pepper, and Shiitakes</a> Browsing through some recipes I was extremely lucky to spot this one. Made it up as directed, although I used one half of four different colours of bell pepper rather than using two red peppers, making it great for eye appeal. I did`t have fresh shitake mushrooms, so used dried ones, which I soaked for half an hour. Texture of these are somewhat different than fresh, but didn`t detract from the dish in any way, and we thoroughly enjoyed it. During dinner my dh said "excellent meal", three times if not more. This was supposed to serve four. It did not.We were piggies and ate all of it. I even went back for seconds,and that`s a rare thing for me.I asked dh how many out of five and he said four and a half.I have to agree. I will make this again, probably many times, and I think I may try adding artichokes,capers, olives etc. Perhaps half chicken and half prawns. Instructions couldn`t be any easier to follow,and the results were fantastic. Thanks so much for sharing your recipe. #199947