Some days you only want to dirty one pan but want a dish packed with flavor. This is for those days - Red Thai Curry Orzo.
Orzo is highly underrated as a pasta. It cooks up quickly, and is a good midpoint between pasta and rice without the heaviness you sometimes feel afterwards. All my rice lovers drop a 🍚 in the comments. This dish is a cross between risotto and rice and comes together very quickly.
Red Thai Curry Orzo
Method: salt and boil water, add green beans & sugar snap peas then boil for 4-5 mins until bright green but still has crunch. Drain the veg and run a bit of cold water over it (or dunk in a bowl of ice water). This helps the veg to keep its bright green color and keep them crisp.
Sauté some finely chopped shallots or red onions in a neutral oil until translucent. Add in the orzo (about 1 1/2 cups —it doubles in size) and toast until lightly golden brown about 2 mins (this helps it not get too mushy). Add 1 1/2 tablespoons of red curry paste and s&p to the orzo and toast for another minute. Add in enough water to just cover (you can add in half a stock cube for even more flavor) and stir. Cook for about 5-7 mins, until the water is half way evaporated and the orzo is still halfway cooked, then add about half a can of coconut milk, about 1/2 teaspoon of fish sauce (optional) stir and continue to cook 3-4 mins on a medium heat so that the coconut milk doesn’t separate. When the orzo is about 2 minutes from being fully cooked, add a handful of spinach and stir until it wilts, add the peas and green beans back on top and cover with a lid to re-warm the veggies.
I added crumbled tofu from @hodofoods and a bit of dried unsweetened coconut that I toasted up, and garnished with cilantro and a squeeze of lime juice. This has the creaminess of risotto without needing to babysit and stir for an hour & loads of flavor.
