REV: Orzo with Zucchini, Tomatoes, and Goat Cheese

[greysangel]

OHhhh this was so good :D This recipe is all about goat cheese. It was really delicious. DH and I both gave it a huge thumbs up ..it was good enough that DH wasn't fishing around his bowl looking for meat :D The only thing I did differently was cook the orzo in chicken broth versus regular water..I think it enhances the flavor in pasta dishes like this. I also think it would work really well with spinach and sun dried tomatoes replacing the diced tomatoes and zucchini.

Definitely a repeat! ~

JeAnne

duh...this is CL 3/03

[funnybone]

Thanks for the review. I will have to note that "to try".

[gertdog]

I just got my issue yesterday and this recipe really jumped out at me. Glad to hear a positive review! :)

[Jeanygirl]

You guys have gotta stop making recipes from March and posting rave reviews, 'cause I'm getting insanely jealous. The March CL is nowhere to be seen in ALL of Iowa!!!:mad:

[SusanMac]

Don't be jealous Jeanygirl. This is a standard orzo recipe. I started making it this way after reading Pam Anderson's How to Cook Without a Book. Good standby and always good. I typically use whatever veggies I have on hand (roasted red peppers, kalamata olives, spinach, chopped tomatoes) and any kind of cheese. It's good with asiago, too, if you don't have goat cheese. And, from a recipe I picked up on the BB...can't remember who, I oten add quinoa, too. Gives it more texture and lots more fiber.

[dmcgreevey]

I agree! I made this last night and it was awesome- there will be many variations coming up in our house. Very comforting!

SusanMac- how much quinoa and when do you add it?

[Peggy]

We had this for dinner tonight. I had thought it would be one of those "just OK" dishes, but nothing special. I was definately wrong! There were so many flavors in this dish. It was very Italian-y. The goat cheese flavor was mild which was a good thing, since DD doesn't care for goat cheese. She said she could taste it, but that didn't stop her from taking two servings!:o

Peggy

[gertdog]

We also had this last night. I thought it was easy to put together and the flavors were good, but I thought the 2 ounces of goat cheese really got lost in a pound of orzo and all the other ingredients. My solution was to crumble just a little more goat cheese on the top of each serving- a teaspoon or so. DH liked it too. A serving was quite filling/satisfying!

[Peggy]

Two ounces of goat cheese?!! :eek: OMG - I put in four!!! The recipe said 1/2 cup. I figured there are 8 ounces in a cup so I put in a 4 oz "log" of goat cheese thinking it was equal to half a cup. I have such a hard time crumbling it, I didn't even measure it. Perhaps I boo-boo'd....

Peggy

[gertdog]

Peggy, the recipe says "1/2 cup (2 ounces)". I had a 4 ounce log of goat cheese so I crumbled in half the log. I didn't measure, though, to see if it equalled 1/2 cup.

Generally, I think 1 cup of shredded cheese is considered to be about 4 ounces, but I don't know about crumbled goat cheese.

I'm curious to hear how others measured their goat cheese- did you go by weight or volume? Maybe this explains why I thought the recipe lacked goat cheesiness. :D

[Peggy]

LOL!! I just looked back at the recipe and now see that it does indeed say 1/2 cup (2 ounces) of goat cheese. My eyes just didn't get past the 1/2 cup part! Well - I can tell you that my recipe had plenty of goat cheese in it. Perhaps my "1/2 cup" was more appropriate than CL's!!:D Taste-wise, anyway....

Peggy

[greysangel]

I think I did the same thing as Peggy :eek: :eek: I just saw 1/2 cup...no wonder why it was goat cheesey goodness! :D

[valchemist]

Originally posted by greysangel
This recipe is all about goat cheese.



tee hee.

oops!!

no wonder.

[tuff2000]

This was so surprizingly delicious. I doubled the amount of zucchini, and added way more oregano (dried), but overall " a simple and absolutely tasty dinner". We will definitley be having this again:-)

[swquilts]

I made this at the "guinea pigs" house to accompany their BBQ'd ribs. Everyone really liked it, even the tomato haters! (Go figure :rolleyes: ) I just used the small package of goat cheese and my friend did the grating so we ended up with about a cup of parmesan. Oh well....a definite repeater!

What main dish or meat could you make to go with this? I agree, it is very Italian-y.

[cinbis]

I'm going to make this tonight. I have a small amount of boneless chicken in the freezer. I'm going to cook that and add it in. Has anyone done this?

[ElinorC]

We loved this dish! It really had a lot of flavor for such few ingredients. However since we don't care for goat cheese, I substituted Rondelé spreadable cheese with garlic and herbs. WOW! It was even better as a leftover; I think the flavors had melded more. I served as a side dish to burgers (DH's favorite) and will definitely be repeated.

[tuff2000]

I have had this already, but we liked it so much I was thinking of making it again tonight. I have some mini portabello mushrooms that I was thinking of chopping up and tossing in with the zucchini, what do you guys think? Should I go with the mushrooms too? Thanks

[cinbis]

Maybe it's me, but I didn't think this was that good. I thought it needed more flavor....I added a few spices and didn't use all of the orzo. It seemed like too much. I like the idea of using spreadable cheese instead of goat cheese and I think adding mushrooms would be good too. I should give it another chance with some changes!

[saw]

Does anyone have this recipe handy to post? I am planning on making it for dinner tonight but I left my magazine at home and I want to figure out if I need to make a grocery stop on the way home. The reviews sound really good.

Thanks to anyone who can post!

Sarah:)

[gertdog]

Sarah, here you go. :)


* Exported from MasterCook *

Orzo with Zucchini, Tomatoes, and Goat Cheese

Recipe By :
Serving Size : 6 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories : Entree Pasta

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
1 pound orzo
1 tablespoon olive oil -- divided
2 medium zucchini -- quartered lengthwise and thinly sliced
1 clove garlic -- minced
1/4 cup minced fresh parsley
1 teaspoon minced fresh oregano -- or 1/4 tsp. dried
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
14 1/2 ounces canned diced tomatoes with garlic and oregano
7 ounces roasted red peppers -- drained and diced
2 ounces grated fresh parmesan cheese
2 ounces crumbled goat cheese

Cook the pasta. Drain and toss with 2 teaspoons olive oil.

Heat 1 teaspoon oil in pan over medium heat. Add zucchini; cook 7 minutes, stirring frequently. Stir in parsley and next 5 ingredients. Cook 5 minutes or until heated through. Remove from heat; stir in pasta and cheese.

Source:
"Cooking Light March 2003"
Yield:
"8 cups"

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 420 Calories; 10g Fat (21.0% calories from fat); 18g Protein; 65g Carbohydrate; 5g Dietary Fiber; 17mg Cholesterol; 532mg Sodium. Exchanges: 4 Grain(Starch); 1 Lean Meat; 1 Vegetable; 1 1/2 Fat.

NOTES : 8 WW points per serving.


Nutr. Assoc. : 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

[saw]

Thanks SO much! I do have everything so it looks like this will be on the table tonight ;)

[HUNGRY!]

I liked this dish. It was somewhat bland, but it was a good lunch and re-heated well.

[saw]

I did get this made for dinner last night, and we really enjoyed it. It made great leftovers for lunch today, and made enough that I have some extra lunch portions in the freezer.

Next time I think I will add more veggies or cut down on the amount of pasta as the ratio of pasta to veggies was not what I expected.

Thanks again for the help with the recipe!

Sarah

[tuff2000]

For those of you who wanted to add extra veggies next time, I added baby portabella's and sugar snap peas the second time around. And extra Oregano. It was absolutely delicious.

[Lchiles]

Made this last night. We thought it was fantastic! Definite repeater. Of course, due to overwhelming support from the BB, I used a little extra goat cheese, and a little more parmesan. So easy, too. Yummy! Didn't think that there was too much pasta. Perfect! LaurieC

[RUSTYSMOM]

How would this be as served at room temperature? Does it need to be warm? Thanks

[VictoriaL]

I've served this at room temp and like it (especially for summer). It isn't nearly as good cold-out-of-the-fridge, though.