I have been thinking about orzo this week, trying to figure out what to do with it. I love orzo — its plump, chewy grains so much like rice, but on a grander scale, and with the tenderness of pasta. But I don't cook with it often enough, which seems silly, given how fast it can be. So I mused over what I would really like to eat right now and came back up with all the fall vegetable flavors from last week — caramelized onions, garlic, mushrooms, sweet potato. Preferably dark and caramelized, which is the flavor profile of this whole dish, as it is built from the ground up in one big skillet, browning, caramelizing, and sautéeing until you're left with a big pile of chewy orzo and dark, delicious fall vegetables.
After the pasta is cooked, you only use one more big sauté pan to put this dish together. It takes some hands-on time, but it's very satisfying, layering each component and flavor on top of the previous. You really see how flavor is built and where each taste in the dish comes from.
This is also a satisfying dish to eat — there's no meat, and it's even vegan, if you leave off the final sprinkle of Parmesan cheese. But I would happily serve this to a crowd of dedicated meat-eaters; it's one of these dishes that really spans a group of various preferences.
A few technical notes on this dish: It's best to use your biggest stove burner, and your biggest sauté pan. I used a great big 6-quart sauté pan, although a 4-quart should work OK as well. If you don't have a straight-sided sauté pan just use your widest, deepest skillet.
I have a slideshow here with photos, too, of most of the steps in the process, showing you how I caramelized each ingredient, then pushed them aside to soften and cook down while I went on to the next one.
Orzo Caramelized with Fall Vegetables & Ginger
serves 4 as a main dish and 6 as a side dish
Salt
1/2 pound orzo pasta
Grapeseed, peanut, or vegetable oil
1 large sweet potato (about 3/4 pound)
2 medium onions (about 1 pound), finely diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
3-inch piece fresh ginger — peeled and grated, about 1 tablespoon
6 ounces shiitake mushrooms, stems removed and caps diced
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
3 big leaves chard or kale, stalks removed and leaves finely chopped — about 2 cups
Freshly ground black pepper
Parmesan, optional
Heat a large pot of water to boiling and salt it generously. Cook the orzo until barely al dente — about 6 to 7 minutes. Drain and toss with a generous drizzle of oil so that the grains of orzo are lightly coated with oil. Set aside.
Peel the sweet potato and dice it finely into cubes about 1/4 to 1/2 inch to a side. Heat a large sauté or frying pan (the largest you have — you want plenty of room and hot surface) over high heat. Drizzle in a little grapeseed or vegetable oil (not olive oil — you want an oil with a high smoke point) and heat until very hot. Add the sweet potatoes and arrange them in one layer. Cook them over high heat until they are beginning to caramelize and turn brown — about 4 minutes. Flip them over and cook for another 3 minutes or so.
Turn the heat down to medium and push the sweet potatoes up in a pile against one side of the pan. Add the diced onions to the center of the pan and sprinkle them lightly with salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are beginning to turn brown. Add the minced garlic and grated ginger and stir them into the onions. Push the onions off to the side of the pan, next to the sweet potatoes, where they will continue to caramelize.
Add the diced shiitake mushrooms to the hot center of the pan and cook them for 4 minutes without turning them. Then flip and stir them and cook for another 4 minutes.
At this point everything should be getting well-cooked; the onions should be quite dark brown and the garlic should be golden and soft. The potatoes should be softening.
Whisk together the vinegar, soy sauce, and 2 tablespoons of oil. Pour this into the pan with the vegetables and mix everything together, scraping the bottom as you go. Cook all the elements together for about 3 minutes on medium heat. Then turn the heat up to high, as high as it will go.
Add the orzo gradually, shaking in a cup at a time, and stirring and scraping constantly. Cook the orzo over high heat with the rest of the vegetables for about 5 minutes, letting the orzo get browned on the bottom of the pan, then scraping it up. You are developing a little more color and flavor on the pasta, and helping all the flavors combine.
Finally, toss the chopped greens into the mix and cook for 1 more minute or until the greens are barely wilted. Turn off the heat and taste. Add salt and pepper if needed. Serve hot, with shavings of Parmesan if desired.
Variations
• For vegans: Leave off the cheese.
• For omnivores: If desired, render a little bacon, sausage, or guanciale fat in the beginning, and use this to cook the vegetables. Keep the meat in too.
Related: Recipe: Pasta with Butternut Squash, Sage, and Pine Nuts
(Images: Faith Durand)





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Comments (22)
the pics and recipes are so inspiring,but...can you please come to my house and make dinner? :)
The perfect side dish for my Thanksgiving meal! Thank you. Now I need to test this out before the holiday.
you guys, i made this tonight and guess what? it's BETTER THAN IT SOUNDS. i don't even know how that's possible, but it is. now, if you'll excuse me, i need to go get a second helping. or a third. whatever.
This looks amazing, and I just happen to have everything. Perfect for when I'm on campus all day, too.
YUM! Definitely on this weekend's menu.
I am definitely making this this weekend! I even have all of the ingredients. How did you read my mind?
Made it! It was SO YUMMY! I added some fresh herbs (savoury and sage). I used red swiss chard, which kept it's bold colour. This was such a beautiful dish, and lots of compliments from hubby. Served it with lentil soup, a great autumn meal. Thanks for sharing - sure wish I could 'throw something together' like this, the way you did. :)
Sweet potatoes--even with my best knife--are so hard to even slice, let alone dice! Any helpful suggestions?
I love the "For Vegans" and "For Omnivores" variations you added to the end of this recipe! I usually make those sorts of changes myself, but it never hurts to have them spelled out.
Made it tonight and it was fantastic. Even my super picky husband liked it. I might throw in nuts next time I make it.
This was so, so good. I used diced golden beets and omitted kale, just due to what was available. Next time, I'm definitely adding dried cranberries for a hint of sweetness and toasted nuts for a bit of crunch.
I did an omnivore variation with chicken-apple sausage. It was wonderful and will go into the regular rotation.
This dish is new favorite! We cooked this up with some Trader Joe's chicken garlic sausage. We were such fans of the fall flavors, even though we're far from fall here in AZ!
@Holly in Nyack I think you might just need a sharper knife. I had sub-par knives for a long time that made it hard to cut sweet potatoes & anything else hard (butternut squash - forget about it.) Then I invested in some crazy sharp, good knives, and sweet potatoes are no problem at all.
Another option would be to use a mandoline (if you have one) to create big shreds, then dice those into cubes.
Very delicious! Even my boyfriend, who is kind of picky about vegetarian meals, said it was awesome! Perhaps pistachios or walnuts next time? Only used 1/2 of an onion too and it was plenty.
Loved this recipe. Served the veggies over roasted sweet potatoes instead of using orzo. Topped with pieces of slab bacon. Yum!
I literally just finished eating this five minutes ago and it was great! It was pretty quick too.
I printed this recipe so long ago - back in October! I finally made it last night. My husband and I loved it! I used peanut oil. I'm trying to use different oils more often. Even though it's Spring, It's kind of chilly at night here in San Diego, so it was perfect! This is a keeper!! Thanks!
Such a fantastic recipe to usher Fall in! I topped it with sliced chicken breast and some crumbled feta in place of parmesan. Delicious!!
I'd love to bring this to my family's thanksgiving as a side. Any tips on reheating without everything getting mushy?
This is really, really good. The only swap I made was gorgonzola crumbles in place of Parmesan. Definitely adding this recipe to the rotation. Thanks.
My husband made this for dinner tonight. It was absolutely delicious. Thanks so much for the recipe!