All of the comfort of risotto with a fraction of the babysitting. Orzo does the whole risotto trick — swelling, releasing starch, turning silky — without demanding constant attention. Keep a pan of stock on the hob, add it a ladleful at a time, and stir only occasionally: between stirs, trim the asparagus and zest the lemon, and you’ll be at the table in about half an hour.

The crème fraîche is what quiets the lemon and makes the pan look creamy; the parmesan is doing the salt. Chicken stock works just as well as vegetable if the fridge isn’t watching.

Ingredients

  • 1200 ml vegetable stock
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 shallot
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 300 g orzo
  • 100 ml white wine
  • 300 g asparagus
  • 150 g frozen peas
  • 100 g baby spinach
  • 1 lemon
  • 3 tbsp crème fraîche
  • 40 g parmesan

Cookware

  • 1 small saucepan
  • 1 deep frying pan

Steps

  1. Bring the vegetable stock to a bare simmer in a small saucepan and keep it warm over a low heat.
  2. Heat the olive oil in a deep frying pan over a medium heat. Add the shallot, finely chopped, and cook until soft but not coloured, 3-4 minutes.
  3. Add the garlic, finely chopped, and cook for 1 minute more.
  4. Stir in the orzo and toast, stirring, for 1-2 minutes until it smells faintly nutty. Not strictly required but very good: pour in a splash of white wine and let it bubble away.
  5. Add the first ladleful of hot stock and stir until absorbed. Keep going, ladleful by ladleful, stirring every couple of minutes and letting each addition be absorbed before the next.
  6. After about 10 minutes, with most of the stock incorporated but the pan not yet dry, work in the asparagus — woody ends trimmed, cut into short lengths — and the frozen peas. Cook for 4-5 minutes more, until the orzo has a tender bite and the pan is dry once again.
  7. Fold in the baby spinach in two or three batches, letting each batch wilt before adding the next.
  8. Take the pan off the heat and finish it: stir in the zest and juice of lemon, the crème fraîche, and the parmesan, finely grated. Season generously with salt and black pepper. If it looks tight, loosen it with a final splash of hot stock — the orzotto should flow lazily across the pan, not sit in a heap.
  9. Serve in warm bowls topped with extra parmesan, a little more lemon zest and plenty of black pepper.

Leftovers reheat well with a splash of hot water and another spoonful of crème fraîche.