Lemony Orzo Pasta with Asparagus

Lemony Orzo Pasta with Asparagus

Lemony Orzo Pasta with Asparagus

Need a quick and easy side dish?  Than Orzo is your friend!

Sounds like an old Italian name doesn’t it?  “Ciao Orzo!  Hows the Famiglia?”  I always thought I had a little Italian in me.  I mean I feel it ya know?  This constant craving for pasta and googling Italian phrases, and then there is my crush on Orzo…I’m telling ya, if it wasn’t  for that damned family tree trashing my dreams….

I’ve made a few recipes with this pasta like One Pot Italian Chicken with Orzo and Mediterranean Orzo Salad. I’ve come to really love how fast it cooks up. This time, I’ve combined the Orzo simply with lemon, butter, parmesan and asparagus.  The asparagus gets thrown into the pasta water during the last few minutes of cooking….how clever is that?   One pot side dish..yay! or “Un piatto contorno…yay!”  Turns out ‘yay’ in Italian is, well…just ‘yay.’

You can certainly toss in whatever you have hanging around to veggie up the dish. Red peppers, green onions, zucchini…even add in cubed chicken for a one pot meal!

Mangia!

LEMONY ORZO PASTA WITH ASPARAGUS

PREP TIME

10 mins

COOK TIME

20 mins

TOTAL TIME

30 mins

Author: Kathi @ Laughing Spatula

Serves: 6-8

INGREDIENTS

• 4 cups water
• 1½ cups Orzo pasta
• Zest and juice of 1 lemon
• ⅓ cup grated parmesan
• 3 tablespoons butter
• ½ pound asparagus stalks cut into bite size pieces
• Salt and pepper to taste

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Bring water to boil in large saucepan.
2. Add Orzo and cook until slightly tender. About 10 minutes.
3. Toss asparagus into water with the Orzo.
4. Continue to cook another 2-3 minutes until asparagus is fork tender.
5. Drain and pour pasta and asparagus back into pan.
6. Add lemon juice and zest, parmesan and butter.
7. Stir until blended,
8. Salt and pepper to taste and serve!