{"id":1946665,"date":"2024-01-18T15:30:13","date_gmt":"2024-01-18T21:30:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/?p=1946665"},"modified":"2024-10-16T08:14:01","modified_gmt":"2024-10-16T13:14:01","slug":"what-is-orzo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/article\/what-is-orzo\/","title":{"rendered":"What Is Orzo and How Do I Use It In Recipes?"},"content":{"rendered":"Cooking with pasta is anything but basic. From-scratch penne alla vodka<\/a> upgrades a typical weeknight meal, while homemade fettuccine<\/a> is the ultimate date night activity. Then there's a slew of pastine<\/em>, aka small pastas, that are perfect in a pasta salad<\/a> or soup.\r\n\r\nThe most popular small pasta in Italian recipes<\/a>: orzo.\r\n

What is orzo?<\/h2>\r\n\"Orzo\r\n\r\nOrzo is a very small type of pasta shaped like sunflower seeds. Because it's not a grain like rice, you might wonder, what is orzo made from<\/em>? Like other pasta, it's made with semolina flour and eggs. Rather than rolling out the dough and cutting it into floured strips like fettuccine or tagliatelle, orzo is made with a pasta extruder. This machine pushes dough through a die (metal plates created to cut specific shapes into pasta) and then a blade slices off the dough as it gets pressed through the plates.\r\n\r\nIn Italian, orzo literally translates to \"barley.\" If you're ever in Italy, you might be more likely to see this pasta shape called risoni<\/em> or puntalette<\/em>.\r\n

Substitutions for Orzo<\/h2>\r\nWhat can you use if the store is out of orzo? Because all pastina is made up of semolina flour, orzo is easy to replace with another pasta shape<\/a>. The simplest choice would be another small pasta\u00a0like ditalini, macaroni elbows, farfalle, stelline<\/em> or even small shells. The ingredient closest to orzo would be Greek orzo, called kritharaki<\/em>.\r\n\r\nThough kritharaki looks exactly like Italian orzo, there are two small differences: The durum wheat Greeks use is slightly different from the type of flour<\/a> Italians use and kritharaki comes in three sizes. Because it's still a wheat product, it will cook up the same if you find kritharaki in a specialty Greek store and want to try it.\r\n\r\nSmall pearl couscous and long grain rice are your next best bets, though the cook times will be quite different. Follow the package instructions so your delicious dinner doesn't turn into overcooked mush...or undercooked cardboard.\r\n

How to Cook Orzo<\/h2>\r\n\"Greek\r\n\r\nThe standard method for cooking orzo is to boil it in salted water<\/a> like any other pasta. Cook for nine to 11 minutes depending on how al dente<\/a> or tender you prefer the orzo.\r\n\r\nTo prevent the pasta flavor from getting lost in a soup, toast the orzo in olive oil for a few minutes before adding broth. Toasting it will bring out a nutty flavor\u2014this Greek tomato soup with orzo<\/a> is a great example.\r\n

What is orzo used in?<\/h2>\r\nThere are so many orzo recipes<\/a> out there, including salads, soups and skillets. You can also use orzo instead of rice in stuffed peppers or as a base for a citrusy salmon dinner<\/a> or Greek chicken kabobs<\/a>. Add orzo to soups for a rice-like texture minus the extra cook time (hello, quick weeknight dinners<\/a>).\r\n\r\nIf you're making a Greek orzo salad<\/a>, try to find an authentic kritharaki to use instead of regular orzo. You could also opt for whole wheat orzo to make your recipes a smidge healthier.\r\n

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Our Best Orzo Recipes<\/div>\t\t\t\t
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