Thursday, July 10, 2008

Chicken Sausage Orzo

This receipt is an easy meal any day of the week. I love orzo pasta. It is totally versatile and is a great alternative to rice. I've yet to find it in whole wheat, but I'll keep looking.

Chicken Sausage Orzo Pasta:
4 chicken sausages (you can use the pre-cooked ones like Amy's or I prefer the fresh ones from Fresh Market....my fav is mushroom, spinach, asiago cheese! I know that Fresh Market and finer grocery stores also carry fresh chicken sausage, pick what you like best)
1 bag of baby spinach
1 pepper (any color you like)
8 oz. mushrooms
1/2 yellow onion (or one small)
Garlic (to your taste)
fresh Parmesan cheese
about 1/2-3/4 box of orzo (cook as directed on box)
butter**
salt & pepper
Worcester sauce
1/4-1/2 of a light beer (again the alcohol cooks off, this is also an optional item! You can use water in it's place)

  • Cook orzo according to package
  • In a medium saute pan, pre-heat and add olive oil, then add chicken sausage, after they start to brown, add beer or water and cook with the lid on until chicken sausage is fully cook
  • At the same time in a large saute pan, turn on med-high heat add olive oil. Add mushrooms and cook til brown, then add onion and peppers. Once they've cooked for about 7 minutes, add the garlic and finally fold in the spinach. Add worch, salt & pepper to taste.
  • Once the chicken sausage is done, cut it into bite size pieces and add it to the veggie saute pan.
  • Once orzo is done, drain and add butter* salt & pepper.
  • Mix the orzo into the veggies sausage mixture
  • Grate fresh parm cheese over the top and serve

*I don't use real butter in this receipt, I use Smart Balance!

Really, you can use any veggie and any kind of sausage, this is just the way I like it!!

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