Chicken and Orzo with Goat Cheese

Chicken & Turkey, Goat cheese, Pasta

Chicken and Orzo with Goat Cheese

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.

Chicken and Orzo with Goat Cheese

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

  1. Preheat oven to 400. Add orzo, chicken, sun-dried tomatoes, chevre, thyme, and lemon juice to a 2.5-3qt baking dish.
  2. Bring chicken broth, water, 1 Tbsp butter, salt, and pepper to a boil.
  3. Pour into the baking dish, stirring slightly to mix. Bake for 30 minutes.
  4. Mix Parmesan and Panko together.
  5. Melt remaining butter in a small dish and add to panko mixture.
  6. Stir the butter into the bread crumbs until well incorporated. Give the dish a quick stir and sprinkle the bread crumb mixture on top.
  7. Bake for another 7-10 minutes, until bubbly and browned. Let sit 5 minutes before serving.

Notes

Adapted from Everyday Food

Estimated time: 1 hour

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