There are some things you just have to make work. Being married, you get plenty of practice!
I don’t like dill. He doesn’t care for very much lemon. Neither of us are overly crazy about feta. Normally, a recipe built around those would get vetoed quickly but with such a simple foundation of other Ingredients like pasta and chicken, I’d make this one work. Really, the bonus was that it gets almost no dishes dirty. And since I hate doing dishes, I’d definitely make it work.
It’s a two-cooking dish meal. Solids go in a baking dish, hot liquids are poured over it. Give it a stir and throw it in the oven. The end product is a tangy, creamy, and hearty one-bowl dinner that we both enjoyed. And it’s completely adaptable to any miscellaneous ingredients that you have hanging around.
And can I just say that even after 5 or 6 years and a new baby, it still makes me swoon to hear things like, “I really like how you added sun-dried tomatoes and the panko topping,” coming from my former-Stouffer’s-and-Red-Baron connoisseur. And they say men don’t change.
Creamy Orzo with Chicken and Goat Cheese
A creamy, comforting, low-maintenance dish perfect for cooler weather.
Ingredients
- 1 lb orzo
- 1 lb chicken breast, cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
- 6oz log chevre, broken up and crumbled with two forks
- 2 tsp fresh thyme leaves
- Juice from half a lemon (~2 tsp)
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 3/4 cup water
- 2 Tbsp unsalted butter, divided
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp ground pepper
- 3/4 cup Parmesan, grated
- 3/4 cup Panko
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400. Add orzo, chicken, sun-dried tomatoes, chevre, thyme, and lemon juice to a 2.5-3qt baking dish.
- Bring chicken broth, water, 1 Tbsp butter, salt, and pepper to a boil.
- Pour into the baking dish, stirring slightly to mix. Bake for 30 minutes.
- Mix Parmesan and Panko together.
- Melt remaining butter in a small dish and add to panko mixture.
- Stir the butter into the bread crumbs until well incorporated. Give the dish a quick stir and sprinkle the bread crumb mixture on top.
- Bake for another 7-10 minutes, until bubbly and browned. Let sit 5 minutes before serving.
Notes
Estimated time: 1 hour
This looks great! I’m all for anything with goat cheese…yum!
I am not a feta or goat cheese fan, do you think anything else would work? It looks like such an easy and hearty recipe.
The fact that your husband changed gives me hope for my father. I’ve been working on him for the past 23 years…but I refuse to give up.
This pasta dish looks delicious! I’m not such a fan of dill either but I do love feta. Chevre is delicious also.
This looks delicious, can’t wait to try it!
Katie – I’m not sure what other kind of cheese could be substituted. It would have to be a cheese that melts and incorporates into the broth easily. The recipe could be revamped to be more of a mac & cheese style dish (pre-cooked pasta baked with roux-cheese mixture) and then you could use gruyere and cheddar… but it becomes much more involved at that point.
Looks wonderfu!! I love one dish meals. Was making my list of ingredients. But then I realized I couldn’t find the oven temp. Am I missing it? Blessings!!
We love orzo, lemon, feta & dill. So needless to say, this looks absolutely amazing!
Sheryl – Oops! The baking temp is 400.
The ingredient list is fantastic; it’s no wonder it’s a great dish! Hope you guys are doing well!
Ok, making this! Husband doesn’t like dill but I don’t care!
I love such simple recipes that have as much flavor as this!
Not sure if this question is stupid or not, but do you cook the chicken beforehand??
Lisa – you don’t cook the chicken before baking.
I’ve made the original version of this w/the feta, dill, etc. I also used salmon instead of chicken once. I love these flavors so much though, so I’m definitely going to try your version – probably next week!
Would salmon work instead of chicken? This looks delicious, and we have some salmon I’d like to use up.
Salmon would probably be okay, you can expect the salmon to cook a little faster than the chicken.
Made this the other night and it was great! Creamy, flavorful, and warming. Thanks for sharing!