Perfect for a hot dinner side dish or a cold potluck picnic item, this Creamy Asparagus Mushroom Orzo is easy to make and a great compliment to any meal.
I’m always looking for new side dishes. Sure, mashed potatoes and vegetables are great and serving the perfect trio of protein + starch + vegetable plays well into my food OCD. But sometimes I like to get a little wild and funky and actually mix my starch and my veggies together. I know – crazy, right? If you’ve never had orzo, its just teeny tiny little pieces of pasta. The box is usually pretty small, but a little goes a long way. Any time you combine mushrooms with asparagus, you’re gonna have a winning combination, but when you throw some goat cheese and fresh herbs into the mix? It becomes get-outta-here good. We ended up eating this stuff for dinner right along side a pork chop, but we ate some of the cold leftovers the next day and thought it would be a great pasta salad as well.
Creamy Asparagus Mushroom Orzo
Ingredients
- 1 cup orzo pasta
- 1 cup about half of a pound fresh asparagus, chopped
- 2 cups about 8 ounces mushrooms, chopped
- 1 small onion diced
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1/4 cup dry white wine
- 4 ounces goat cheese
- 1/2 cup fresh herbs basil, chives, thyme, etc.
- half a lemon
- salt and pepper
Instructions
- Cook orzo in boiling salted water a couple minutes less than the package directions so that you end up with slightly al dente pasta. Drain and set aside.
- Melt butter over medium high heat in stockpot. Saute asparagus, mushrooms, and onion in butter until slightly brown and fragrant, about 10 minutes.s in butter. Deglaze the pan with wine, scraping any bits off the bottom. Remove from heat and toss cooked orzo with goat cheese, fresh herbs, and the squeeze of lemon.
- Season with salt and pepper, as desired.
This sounds delicious! Thank you! I’m wondering…I’m not a real fan of asparagus. I could leave it out, of course, but do you have any suggestions for substitutions? Maybe artichoke hearts or broccoli?? Thanks!
Hi Laurie, I think artichoke hearts or broccoli would work great. If you use broccoli, I would just blanch to cook it but still keep it firm and then toss it in at the end. -Krissy