What’s Cooking, Episode 1: Chicken & Sausage Orzo

June 22, 2018
By David Riley Jr.

Lynn, MA – Welcome to the first episode of our new web series, “What’s Cooking?”! These videos will be short, no longer than 2-3 minutes, and should all be doable from your own home. The first one is a favorite of mine, a chicken & sausage orzo.

This is a relatively low effort dish and only uses up one pot…or in our case, one skillet. All-in-all this shoudln’t take much more than 30 minutes to do, with most of the time spent letting the orzo cook.

For those that want to print & try this recipe you can take it from below:

INGREDIENTS

• 2 teaspoons – olive oil
• 2 – spicy Italian sausages, casing removed
• 1 pound – boneless chicken thigh, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 3 cups – chicken broth, plus more as needed
• 1/2 cup – tomato sauce
• 1.5 cups – uncooked orzo
• 1 teaspoon – kosher salt, plus more to taste
• 1/2 cup – finely grated Parmigiano Reggiano
• 1/4 cup – chopped Italian parsley
• OPTIONAL TOPPINGS: fresh, sliced chives & ricotta cheese

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Place pot over medium-high heat.
2. Put sausages in pot to brown, break them up pretty fine.
3. Add in cut up chicken, stir around, add in some salt to season, & cook until slightly browned.
4. Add in chicken broth, & stir around. After a few seconds add in tomato sauce & stir.
5. Raise heat to high & bring to a simmer.
6. When it comes to a simmer add in orzo & a bit of salt.
7. Lower heat to medium & cook 10-12 minutes, or until the pasta is tender & most of the liquid is absorbed (this should happen about the same time).
8. When done toss in cheese, parsley, & chives. Stir together, & add salt if needed.
   • It doesn’t need to be stirred constantly, but should be done occasionally as to not stick to the bottom.
9. Serve & top with optional garnish.

Let us know what you think, and how it went if you decided to make it yourself. I’m also always willing to try new things, so feel free to email recipe recommendations to driley@lynntv.org.