Baked Orzo with Chorizo and Spinach

The other night I really felt like cooking, but didn't know when Jon would be getting home. I went in search of an idea for a dinner that could wait, like a casserole, and started by asking the girls on a cooking board I frequent.

I loved this suggestion blogged about on Cooking This and That. I looked at the original recipe, a Giada recipe for Baked Orzo with Fontina and Peas, on the Food Network web site, and after reading it decided to use it as inspiration but change a few ingredients and add others to match our tastes. The original recipe sounded great, but I wanted to turn it into a savory main course. My version is below.

Ingredients

• 4 cups chicken broth
• 1 pound orzo pasta
• Chorizo; I used 2 links, each was about 6 inches long.
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 8 ounces mushrooms, chopped
• 1 cup white wine, I used a dry Chardonnay
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1 c shredded cheeses - I used a mix of mozzarella, Parmesan, and asiago
• More Parmesan cheese, for the topping, about 1/4 c
• 6 oz fresh spinach, roughly chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup bread crumbs
  

Directions

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Butter a 9 by 13-inch baking dish.
• 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.
• Meanwhile, heat 2 tbsp olive oil over medium heat in a medium skillet.
• Crumble the chorizo into the pan and cook until browned, about 8 minutes
• Add the onions and garlic, saute 3 minutes
• Add the mushrooms, saute 2 minutes
• Add the wine, stirring to scrape up all the brown bits. Let simmer until reduced by half, about 5 minutes.
• Add the sausage mixture to the orzo in the large bowl. Stir.
• Add the cheeses, stir
• Pour in the cream and stir to combine everything
• Pour the mixture into your buttered baking dish. Sprinkle with bread crumbs and Parmesan cheese.
• Bake uncovered until golden, about 25 minutes. I turned on the broiler for the last minute or two.

These flavors all worked perfectly together. This dish was creamy and comforting, with just a touch of heat from the chorizo. And it served almost 10... we ate it 3 times, my mom had lunch, and my parents had dinner the next night!

I would love to make a large batch of this for a party. I would prepare everything up until before I added the cream. The cream could be stirred in before baking.