Our family loves orzo! Orzo is actually pasta and not rice as many people believe. It has an amazing texture and can be mixed with various types of light sauces to make a great side dish for any meat or seafood. You can also mix various vegetables, meats or seafood into cooked orzo for an easy main dish. This orzo dish is a family favorite and very simple to make. The cooked orzo is mixed into a buttery cream sauce and the flavor is amped up with freshly grated parmesan cheese and crumbled feta. I add a heavy dose of fresh cracked pepper into the cream sauce to give it a little “cacio e pepe” flavor.
TIPS: I only buy bronze die cut pasta including for the orzo when I can find it. Be sure to cook the orzo a minute less than package instructions as it will finish cooking in the sauce and you don’t want mushy pasta. When you cook the pasta in the sauce in the last minute, if it seems a little dry you can add a bit more butter and cream at the end. Use as much or little feta as you like.
Creamy Orzo with Feta
Ingredients
- 1 lb dry orzo
- 4 Tbsp butter
- 1/2 C heavy cream
- 1/2 C freshly gated parmesan cheese
- 1 tsp coarse ground pepper
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 3/4 – 1 C crumbled feta cheese
Instructions
- In a large pot of salted boiling water, add the orzo and cook to 1 minute less than package instructions. Strain orzo and set aside leaving orzo in strainer.
- In the same pot you cooked the pasta in , over low heat, melt the butter. Add the heavy cream and bring it to a simmer. Add the salt and pepper. Simmer on low about 2-3 minutes to thicken slightly. Stir in Parmesan cheese to fully incorporate. Taste the cream sauce to see if needs more salt. Stir in the orzo pasta and simmer on low about 1 minute. Remove from heat and gently fold in the feta cheese keeping the crumbles intact.
- Serve immediately, topped with more grated parmesan.
- Enjoy!