Orzo looks like rice, its name means "barley" but in reality it's a small pasta which makes Orzo, a master of disguise. Boil it for 9 minutes, accommodate it, the way you would pasta, alternatively bulk soups with it and you have got yourself a quick meal.
However if something looks like rice, you should expect to treat it like so. Because of its chameleon properties when I first cooked orzo, I boiled it. As a result, he, who is very sensitive to textures, defined it as "slimy". Though, I quickly add that there is nothing slimy about orzo.
Next time round, I wasn't going to take any chances and went for risotto, or in this case, risonitto. Now, hang on to your seats, in Italian, orzotto is a pearl barley dish; risotto is rice based. So what do you call an orzo-pasta-risotto?
Risonitto, as our master of disguise has an alias: Risoni.
Technically when an ingredient is sealed in hot oil it will keep its shape while cooking. That is why French ratatouille doesn't look like mush. Each vegetable is being fried before it goes to the pot.
The same principle applies to most things. Cooked this way orzo is full of flavour, a great option for weekday meals.
Risonitto
Ingredients
serves 4
250g orzo
1 chopped shallot or onion
600ml bouillon (I use marigold) to which 1 tbs. tomato paste
1 chopped red or green pepper
2tbs d'huile d'olive
Sel, poivre
Do not hesitate to add anything else you fancy
Method
In a large frying pan, heat the oil and fry onion and pepper until soft.
When this is done, retrieve the vegetable and place them in a bowl for later use. Keep the oil.
Heat the oil again and add the orzo, stir, when it start to turn white carefully add a little bouillon, keep adding until orzo is soft.
Return the vegetable to the pan, stir and serve