Delicious side dish or a delicious meatless dinner? It doesn’t really matter which one, you decide, what matters is that it’s delicious! Simple orzo pasta mixed with freshly grated Parmesan cheese and sauteed mushrooms and shallots.
When I first made this tasty dish, I meant for it to be a side dish. Just imaging how good it would be with a juicy turkey leg (or breast if you prefer), ham or chicken. Really, any way you go with meat, this will be great.
Then, as we were scarfing it down for lunch, I realized that I may have planned it to be a side dish, but it was great all by itself. This orzo dish can definitely stand on its own and be all you need. If your family has meatless nights, or vegetarian family members, this dish would be a perfect simple dinner. It takes almost no time to make it. The longest it will take is to cook the pasta. While pasta is cooking, saute your mushrooms and shallot. The mix it all together and you got a wonderful dinner in under 30 minutes.
Best part here is the cheesiness, as it is in every comforting pasta dish. Grating Parmesan cheese right over hot pasta and then mixing it right away, will create almost creamy, cheesy coating on the pasta. Pure Parmesan heaven!
Depending on if you’re making this for your holiday dinner or just a family dinner, you can easily half or double the recipe. Just take note that this dish is pretty filling and a 16 oz package of dry orzo, will make you close to 8 cups. As easy as this dish to re-heat, it tastes so much better freshly made.
Parmesan Mushroom Orzo
Ingredients
- 16 oz dry orzo
- 4 oz freshly grated Parmesan Cheese
- 16 oz baby bella mushrooms
- 2 medium shallots
- 2 Tbsp truffle oil
- Salt
Instructions
- Cook orzo according to the package instructions, drain and place in a large mixing bowl. Immediately grate Parmesan cheese into the bowl with pasta before pasta cools. Mix well until cheese is melted and pasta is all coated.
- While pasta is cooking, you can prepare mushrooms and shallots. Peel and thinly slice shallots. Wash and thinly slice mushrooms. Preheat a large cooking pan over medium heat and add truffle oil. Add onions and saute until translucent. Add mushrooms, season with some salt and cook until mushrooms are done.
- Add cooked mushrooms and shallots to the bowl with Parmesan orzo. Mix well. Taste to see if you need more salt.
Notes
Check out these great recipes from other bloggers:
Easy Cheesy Orzo from Or Whatever You Do
Lemon Garlic Orzo Soup from Petit Foodie
Cheesy Pumpkin Orzo from Table For Two
Lemon Chicken Orzo Soup from The Girl Who Ate Everything
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More Recipes From Me:
Extra Cheesy Lemon Asparagus Pasta Skillet
Creamy Roasted Tomato Pasta Salad
Liz says
Love all your recipes. Thank you.
lyuba says
Thank you so much, Liz!!
Michele says
This was so good! I didn’t have any truffle oil on hand but even without it, it was very good. Thank you.
LyubaB says
Thanks, Michele! So glad you liked it!
Carol says
I used 16 oz of dry orzo, it wasn’t cheesy, I added twice as much cheese, not sure what I did wrong, a bit dry.
TN Food Gal says
Made this delicious orzo recipe last evening and will definitely make it often in the future. Can imagine how tasty it will be as a side for a variety of meats. Truffle oil was too pricy for us, so substituted EVOO.
LyubaB says
I am so glad you liked it!