Baked Orzo With Fontina and Peas

Submitted by CIndytc

"A Giada recipe, it looked so good I had to put it here for safe keeping."

 

• Ready In: 55mins
• Ingredients: 15
• Serves: 6-8

ingredients

• 4 cups chicken broth
• 1 lb orzo pasta
• 3 tablespoons butter, plus more to grease the baking dish
• 1 onion, chopped
• 8 ounces mushrooms, sliced
• 1 cup marsala wine
• 1⁄2 cup heavy cream
• 4 ounces shredded Fontina cheese (about 1 cup)
• 4 ounces diced fresh mozzarella cheese (about 1 cup)
• 1 cup frozen peas, thawed
• 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
• 1⁄2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
• 1⁄2 cup breadcrumbs
• 1⁄4 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme

directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Butter a 9 X 13 baking dish.
2. Bring the chicken broth to a boil over medium-high heat in a medium saucepan. Add the orzo and cook until almost tender, about 7 minutes. Pour the orzo and the broth into a large bowl. Set aside.
3. Meanwhile, melt the butter over medium heat in a medium skillet. Add the oinions and saute until tender, about 3 minutes. Add the mushrooms and continue to saute until the mushrooms are beginning to turn golden around the edges, about 7 minutes. Add the Marsala. Scrape the brown bits off the bottom of the pan and cook unti lthe Marsala has reduced by half, about 5 minutes. Add the mushroom mixture to the orzo in the large bowl. Add the cream, fontina, mozzarella, peas, salt & pepper. Stir to combine. Pour the mixture into the prepared baking dish.
4. In a small bowl combine the bread crumbsd, Parmesan, and dried thyme. Sprinkle the bread crumb mixture on top of the pasta. Bake until golden, about 25 to 30 minutes.

Reviews

[tarab5]

This has a fantastic flavor, but I wanted more stuff in the orzo. The second time I made this, I doubled both the mushrooms and the peas and I was much happier. I also decided since I couldn't buy less than 8 oz of Fontina, I might as well just use all Fontina and leave out the mozzarella. This also worked well. The marsala and thyme are a lovely combination.

 

[Kittencalrecipezazz]

I absolutely loved this recipe, made as stated but added in some crushed red chili flakes and also 4 large cloves garlic chopped when sauteeing the onion, will make again for sure, thanks for sharing!

 

[Clean Plate Club]

We loved this!!! It is pretty rich but worth it. Next time I think I might add some marsala to the chicken broth when I cook the pasta.

 

[Pinkytz]

I made this exactly as written except that I used vegetable broth instead of chicken broth. It tasted very good but was a little dry. Maybe I let the wine reduce too much? Next time I would use more peas and add some butter to the crumb topping as I don't like dry toppings. I will make this again. Thanks for posting.