One pan dinner! Hooray! I LOVE only one pan to clean up – you too? It’s the small things, right!? I discovered this little recipe from our friends at Hello Fresh.
I love it because if I can find Italian Sausage at the store, I usually already have all the other ingredients: tomatoes, spinach, broth, parmesan, panko, Italian seasoning – all on hand at all times!
Are you wondering about Orzo? If you aren’t familiar, it is a tiny pasta, that looks like a fat grain of rice. It cooks well in a mixture like this, or a soup and adds some of that yummy pasta taste, without boiling a big pot of water. A little goes a long way!
Orzo Italiano
One pan Italian pasta dinner that checks all the boxes, tomatoes, spinach, Italian sausage, and just enough mozzarella, finished off with a panko breadcrumb topping!
Ingredients
- 1 lemon
- 1 cup chopped fresh spinach
- 1 pint cherry tomatoes - halved
- 1 lb ground Italian sausage (pork or chicken)
- 1 1/3 cup orzo pasta
- 2 cloves garlic - minced
- 1 TBSP Italian seasoning
- 2 cups chicken stock
- 1/2 cup mozzarella - shredded
- 1/4 cup panko breadcrumbs
- 1/4 cup parmesan cheese - grated
- Olive oil
- Salt/Pepper
Directions
- Step 1 Prep veggies – halve lemon – cut 1 half into wedges for serving, halve cherry tomatoes, chop spinach and mince garlic
- Step 2 Preheat broiler while you cook sausage – add sausage & a drizzle of olive oil to a large oven-proof skillet over Medium heat – Cook until browned, about 3 minutes
- Step 3 Add tomatoes & garlic to pan with sausage, cook, stirring occasionally, until tomatoes start to wilt – 2-3 minutes
- Step 4 Add orzo pasta and Italian seasoning – cook until orzo is coated in juices, about 1 minute. Season with salt/pepper.
- Step 5 Add 2 cups chicken stock and stir. Bring to boil, then lower heat to medium and let simmer until orzo is al dente, about 7-8 minutes. Important to stir frequently to keep orzo from sticking to pan.
- Step 6 Stir in chopped spinach and cook until wilted about 3 minutes.
- Step 7 Stir 1/2 cup mozzarella and a squeeze of lemon into pan and mix together.
- Step 8 (NOTE: if your pan is not oven-proof, transfer mixture to baking dish at this point.) Otherwise, sprinkle panko and parmesan over the top and transfer to middle rack of broiler for 1-2 minutes – watch closely – it can burn super quick!
- Step 9 Serve with lemon wedges & enjoy!
