one-pot oven orzotto with sausage, kale, and cherry tomatoes

Oven orzotto, something I’ve written about before, is an incredible formula for weeknights. Preheat the oven, sear off literally any protein, add aromatics and greens and any relevant accessories (here, that’s remnant cherry tomatoes, the last breath of summer in California), and then stir together with dry orzo and a hot cooking liquid and salt and maybe an herb or two. Pop in the oven covered for 20 minutes on the dot, then stir in the cheese of your choice to finish.

That’s it. That’s the recipe. Easy, right?

However, this is also a dish that insidiously SEEMS like something’s not right as you’re doing it. Any time we’re counting on precise ratios involving starch absorption in hot liquid while we can’t actually see it cooking and not permanently adhering itself to the bottom of the pan, we’re choosing to anxiously trust the process and fly dangerously blind into the abyss. But I have tested this upwards of six times. I doubt it every time, because it’s my nature. And yet it always works.

To actually show the math, though, I’ve taken pictures at each stage, particularly to capture the level of soupiness you want at the end just before you stir in the cheese. This starchy liquid feels excessive and wrong, but it is actually the “risotto”-ness of this dish—and while it won’t feel intuitively correct to add more liquid to this, and you will want to put it back in the oven, I promise that you can, and that you shouldn’t.

This specific rendition of orzotto is a riff on a generally Barese/Pugliese flavor profile, in which bitter greens and pork are paired with pasta in a garlicky white wine sauce—like the classic orecchiette and rapini version the region is most known for. But I recognize that this is America, and therefore this is an incredibly friendly, customizable dish.

Don’t like spice? Switch the hot sausage for mild and omit the chili flakes. Don’t eat sausage? Use Beyond or another vegetarian sausage; the same formula applies. Don’t want to open wine? Use more stock instead. Don’t eat gluten? Use gluten-free orzo! That’s what’s pictured here—Delallo makes a great one.

The only way I can’t help you is if you just don’t want pasta at all. But if that’s you, and you’re here, I predict deeper disappointments await.

RECIPE

Like a risotto, but make it an orzo. This no-stir, one-pan, 30-minute oven orzotto features spicy sausage, kale, and orzo baked risotto-style in broth and white wine. Cherry tomatoes add a hit of acidic brightness, while a splash of heavy cream and pecorino romano cheese stirred in at the end give the finished dish a luxuriously silky, cozy texture.

Effortful time: 10 minutes

Total time: 30 minutes

Makes 4 medium-sized bowls

YOU NEED

  • 1 lb. mild or hot Italian pork sausage, can sub sausage of any other type too—bulk is easiest here, but you can buy links and remove the casing

  • 1 tsp. olive oil

  • 1 small shallot, thinly sliced into half moons

  • 2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

  • 1 bunch black kale, large stems removed and roughly chopped

  • 10-12 cherry tomatoes, sliced in half

  • 1 cup dry orzo

  • 1/2 cup dry white wine

  • 2 cups chicken broth; I used Better than Bouillon

  • Salt, to taste

  • Black pepper and chili flakes, to taste

  • 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream

  • 1/2 cup grated pecorino romano cheese, plus more for serving

MAKE IT

  1. Preheat the oven to 425°F.

  2. On the stove, heat the oil in an ovenproof skillet (an enamel cast iron pan is great) over medium-high heat. Add the sausage and brown it, breaking up with a spatula into a fine crumble as you go, until deeply caramelized and cooked through.

  3. Lower the heat to medium-low. Add the sliced shallots and garlic to the sausage and oil, and cook 1 minute more until very fragrant.

  4. Add the chopped kale and cherry tomatoes to the pan and fold together to lightly wilt the greens, about 1-2 minutes. Switch off the heat and stir in the orzo.

  5. Add the white wine and chicken broth together (or, if using Better Than Bouillon, just 2 cups of water; I mix in the BTB into the heated liquid) and microwave for 1 minute. Heating the broth first helps the orzo absorb it faster in the oven, similar to how it works with risotto. Pour it all into the pan. Season with salt, pepper, and chili flakes. Stir it all up.

  6. Cover the dish and bake for 20 minutes.

  7. When time’s up, remove from the oven. The dish should still look a tiny bit soupy (see photo), but the orzo should be cooked through. If it’s still crunchy, or if you have excess liquid, pop back in for 3-5 minutes more. If your liquid was hot at step 5, 20 minutes should be perfect.

  8. Stir in the cream and pecorino romano cheese. This will create a silky smooth texture. Finish with more chili flakes and an extra dusting of romano.

Note: when reheating any leftovers, treat it like you’re making risotto, making sure to add more water as you go. Otherwise the orzo will continue absorbing the liquid, and will start to stick to the bottom of the pan in a way that’s neither pleasant to eat or fun to clean.

risottoA @ italian enoughoriginals, simpleComment