Lunch / Dinner
Sausage & Fennel Orzotto
Spicy, sweet, creamy, and bitter — the contrasting flavors within this menu come together to make everything taste its best.
Ingredients
The rice-like shape of orzo is fun in this riff on risotto, but you could use any small pasta in its place.
Instructions
Heat broth in a saucepan over low; keep it warm while preparing remaining ingredients.
Heat oil in a large sauté pan over medium. Add sausage; sauté until browned, 10–12 minutes per side. Transfer sausage to a paper-towel-lined plate. When cool enough to handle, slice sausage into 1/2-inch-thick rounds; set aside.
In the pan used to cook sausage, sauté fennel and onion until they begin to brown and soften, about 5 minutes. Add garlic, pepper flakes, and thyme; cook, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes. Transfer vegetable mixture to a bowl.
Add orzo to the sauté pan, stirring to coat pasta with residual oil in the pan; cook 2 minutes.
Deglaze the pan with wine, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom.
Add 1 1/2 cups warm broth to orzo; cook, stirring constantly, until broth is nearly absorbed, about 5 minutes. Add another cup of broth; cook and stir orzo until broth is nearly absorbed, another 5 minutes. Add the remaining 1 cup broth; cook and stir until liquid is fully absorbed. Taste orzo for doneness. It should be creamy but not gummy.
Stir in sausage slices and vegetable mixture, then add Parmesan, butter, parsley, zest, and chopped fennel fronds. Season orzotto with salt and pepper.
Sautéing the sausage link whole, then slicing it after cooking, will yield cleaner and more even slices.
When a spoon leaves a clean, dry trail through the orzotto, it's time to add more broth.
Once the orzo is al dente (cooked but still chewy), stir the precooked vegetables and sausage into it.
Nutritional Facts
Nutritional Facts
Per serving
Calories: 637
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 35g 53%
Saturated Fat 13g 65%
Cholesterol 76mg 25%
Sodium 758mg 31%
Carbs 51g 17%
Fiber 3g 12%
Protein 24g
*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.