Pesto Orzo with Chicken and Sun-Dried Tomatoes

Do you know that orzo is not rice, but a type of pasta shaped like bigger and plump rice grains? As much as I love risotto, but the skills and price involved have swapped me from cooking orzo instead of risotto. 

I know I know you can't really compare these two just because they share similar appearance, but it is actually what's happening in my kitchen. So this time I'm making a pesto-themed orzo meal, supposedly the flavors and seasonings both work with risotto too. But like what's being said, let's stick with orzo this time.

Pesto orzo with chicken and sun-dried tomatoes - 

Ingredients (about 5 to 6 portions)?

• 500 grams orzo
• 375 grams chicken (I used chicken tenders)
• 1 bundle/about 250 grams spinach
• 3/4 cup peas
• 135 grams pesto sauce
• 2 garlic cloves
• 5 cups vegetable stock
• 2 to 3 tablespoons olive oil
• Some salt
• Some black pepper
• 1 teaspoon mixed dried Italian herbs
• Some sun-dried tomatoes and oil

How?

Cut the chicken to medium bite size pieces. Destem and section the spinach to shorter length. Peek and chop the garlic cloves.

Drizzle 2 to 3 tablespoons of olive oil to the pan, I used a Dutch oven. Switch to medium heat and add in chopped garlic. Sear till aromatic but not burnt.

Add in orzo and give it a quick mix, making sure every grain has been coated with the oil. Add 1 teaspoon of mixed dried Italian herbs. Continue to stir and cook for 10 seconds.

Pour in 5 cups of vegetable stock. Cook the orzo till half way done, about 6 minutes.

Add in chicken and mix a little, cook for couple more minutes. Add in spinach and peas, mix and cook for about a minute. Spoon in the pesto sauce. Mix and cook till orzo reaches desired texture. 

Taste and adjust with salt if needed. I added 1/2 teaspoon of salt here. However, the amount of salt used depends, especially we might be using different vegetable stock and pesto sauce here.

Once all checked, plate and dot the orzo with some sun-dried tomatoes. Perhaps drizzle some of the oil from the sun-dried tomatoes for a gentle flavor boost. Crack some black pepper on top then ready to go.

You don't have to use such big pieces of sun-dried tomatoes like I did here. Use smaller ones or give the sun-dried tomatoes a few chops all work great.

Other orzo recipes:

• Dairy-free chorizo and colorful bell pepper orzo
• Big big servings of chicken orzo soup

Misoyaki Onigiri 味噌焼きおにぎり

Some onigiri specialty stores will emphasize on how great the rice they're using, often imported from Japan too. Well, let me show you one trick and maybe save you some money on buying expensive high-end rice grains.

Use less water when cooking the rice. Yes, it's that simple. You know some people also do that when making fried rice? It's kind of similar to using leftover or overnight rice. Storing rice in the fridge will help drawing out some moisture. So why not start from the beginning and simply use a wee bit less water to cook the rice? I ensure you the end result can be wowing and amazing. I know I was super happy with the rice texture for this batch of misoyaki onigiri.

Misoyaki onigiri 味噌焼きおにぎり - 

Ingredients (for two rice balls)?

• 2 portions of cooked white rice (bouncier texture preferred)
• 4 grams katsuobushi (dried bonita flakes)
• Some sesame oil

Sauce:

• Some white miso
• Some honey (optional)
• Some drinkable water (optional)

How?

Cook the white rice use slightly less than usual amount of water, that way you'll get bouncier grains in the end.

Brush some sesame oil to a big bowl. Scoop two portions of rice to the bowl. Add in 4 grams of katsuobushi, use smaller pieces katsuobushi. Fluff the rice and mix till evenly blended.

Dip both palms with some drinkable water if needed. This can help preventing the rice sticking on your hands when making onigiri. However, since we already brushed some sesame oil on the bowl, the rice shouldn't that sticky, so it's up to you.

Take half of the katsuobushi-mixed rice and form into onigiri, let it be round or triangular shaped, both are fine. Just make sure to flatten the front and end a little so the onigiri won't roll around in the pan later.

Prepare a small bowl and add in some white miso. The miso I'm using has a more watery consistency, which is ready to use right away. If you have a thick paste type of miso, mix in a little honey or even some drinkable water to thin it out.

Line the pan with aluminum foil to prevent sticking or miso burning directly onto the pan if needed. Either way, brush some sesame oil to the surface you're working on, aluminum foil or directly on the pan.

Spread some miso to one side of the onigiri then transfer to the pan with miso side down. Use medium heat and sear till slightly browned and hardened. Meanwhile spread some more miso on top of the onigiri. 

Once the bottom side is ready, carefully flip the onigiri and continue to sear till the bottom turn slightly browned and hardened.  

Once done, move the onigiri to serving plate.

Don't worry if the miso doesn't get browned nicely or got stuck to the aluminum foil or pan. There's one way to save it. Spread a bit more miso to the onigiri and torch it instead. 

The torching method yields a flavor that is a bit different than searing, but still aromatic. Especially that slightly torched burnt aroma, smells quite appetizing to tell the truth. 

Other onigiri recipes:

• Egg scallion and shio kombu onigiri 蔥蛋塩昆布日式飯糰
• Tuna and sesame oil rice balls
• Hijiki and Inari age onigiri 羊栖菜豆皮飯糰