Unless you’re raised in a family whose culinary life embraces orzo, in all likelihood you will encounter orzo some distance down the pasta road, way past stops that include string pasta, lasagna, or fresh anything. Anyone can easily image 5 things to put on top of linguini, but What do you do with orzo?

Here’s the answer – Orzo with Farm Greens, Ricotta, Parmesan, Pecorino and Hot Pepper. It’s a little Greek, a little Italian, very easy, tastes delicious and (speaking from experience) makes great leftovers because it’s so friendly to after-the-fact stir-ins (personal favorite – leftover low-cooked salmon). Orzo’s creamy texture means that almost any dish in which it’s used drifts toward comfort food, and if you include cheese, regardless of the other ingredients, the effect is heightened – creamy, unctuous, satisfying.

Adapt the recipe to incorporate the greens you have on hand, removing stems only as needed. Long, leafless stems on dandelion greens should be trimmed, but dandelion stems with leaves all the way to the end may need only to have the bases cut away; leave tender and unbruised stems of fresh spinach intact. Large chard leaves should be separated from the stems – because of different cooking times, not because the stems should be discarded. And of course everything needs a good rinse (especially dandelion greens, which can be sandy). Enjoy.

Ken

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Jody Notes

My family used to eat a lot of boxed rice pilaf and like everyone else I wondered, What ARE those little dark things mixed with the rice? My first guess was that they were “pilafs,” whatever “pilafs” were. Then I learned pilaf was a technique for making rice and I figured the dark things were pine nuts… except they weren’t. They didn’t taste, feel or smell like nuts. Then the penny dropped – they were toasted ORZO!  I felt cheated and for years I harbored a bias against this poor little pasta, as though it had personally participated in deceiving me.

But once I started cooking with orzo, I became a fan. I love the texture. It gets creamy while still holding it’s al dente status. In the mid-’80s when I was cooking in a gourmet food store making bulk salads for the to-go case, orzo salad with feta, artichokes and lemon was a favorite. Pantazis Deligiannis, our Greek chef at Saloniki, makes a soupy orzo with greens, dill and lots of graviera cheese. It’s addictive.

The orzo recipe here was inspired by Pantazis’ dish, but informed by the contents of my fridge and the bounty at a farmers market. It’s more Italian than Greek. We had a tub of ricotta, hot and sweet peppers, and a couple of blocks of Parmesan and pecorino that we’d bought as COVID 19 pantry stock in mid March. And then I went to the farmer’s market and vegetables told me what to do. Atlas Farm had stunning zucchini, dandelion greens, Swiss chard, spinach and dill. In the potted herb garden in my back garden I had mint, basil, rosemary, thyme, oregano and bronze fennel. (I’d read that aphids don’t like fennel and marigold so I bought a bunch of plants and put them around my tomato plants.). Also the nasturtium garnish is from a pot on my back steps.

Don’t worry about following the ingredients list exactly.  If you can’t get dandelion greens, use more spinach.  If you don’t like dill, leave it out.

This dish will make a perfectly respectable Sunday night supper all on its own or, if you’re wondering what else to make while the chicken roasts, here you go – a great side dish.

When reheating, add a little water to make it creamy again.