Veggie “Orzo”tto

I found this recipe on the back of the box of vegetable broth I bought from Whole Foods. It looked really good, easy, and it’s a pretty good idea for a finger food! The orzo is nice and small to pick up, and so are all the veggies. I of course made lots of changes to the original recipe, because you can pretty much use any vegetable you want or have lying around the house, including frozen veggies! How easy is that?!
Okay here’s the recipe according to the box:

Ingredients:
4Tbsp. (1/2 stick) unsalted butter (oops! I used salted! Oh well, it tasted great so I guess you can use either!)
1 small onion, chopped
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1 1/2 cups orzo pasta
1 cup sliced carrots
1/2 cup frozen peas
32 oz. vegetable broth
1 cup grated Parmesan (okay I forgot to buy this so I used mozzarella and it was really good!)
Salt and pepper
Chopped parsley (this is just to sprinkle on top, and I always find this unnecessary. Use it if you want, but I left it out!)

I changed all of the veggies! Instead I used zucchini, red bell pepper, broccoli, and cauliflower. Use whatever to want! Just try to think about the length of time needed for each veggie to cook. Frozen veggies need less time, and harder uncooked veggies like broccoli need more time.

Method:

Melt the butter in a large heavy saucepan. Sauté onions and “mushrooms” until tender but not browned. I threw in the broccoli and cauliflower in this step so they could have more time to cook.

And orzo and stir to coat.

Add “carrots,” “peas” and broth. This is where I added my zucchini and bell pepper.

Bring to a boil and cook until orzo is tender. This pretty much meant that it needs to be cooked until all or most of the liquid is absorbed.

Remove from heat and stir in Parmesan cheese (or if you’re like me, mozzarella.) Sprinkle with parsley if you chose to do that, and season with salt and pepper.

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