Roasted Tomato Orzotto with Brown Butter Sage Sauce

Orzotto, Risotto. Both are just totally the most comforting types of dishes.  Creamy carbs with some sort of cheese usually involved.  

This Roasted Tomato Orzotto dish is the best of a cozy roasted tomato soup meets a lightened up mac and cheese.  What could be better, right?!  It makes for a great light meal, or a fabulous side dish.

Orzotto 101

First of all, just in case, orzo is that fabulous little rice shaped pasta that has the most lovely mouth feel, so creamy and smooth once cooked.  I always like to add it to the pot once I’ve sautéed the aromatics in oil before adding any liquid, to give the pasta a head start in taking on that toasty flavour, like in a classic rice risotto dish.  The ingredients below are similar to the ones I use for my Saffron Orzotto with Asparagus.  Adding stock to the orzo once it has soaked in some of the flavours from the oil, onions and garlic is really all you need to do.  Once the pasta is cooked through, you will fold in cheese and anything else you are craving.

*For those of you looking for gluten free Orzo, I have found that DeLallo and Garofalo brands both have great options. 

• Orzo, Wheat, or gluten free, they both cook up at about the same rate.  But don’t worry if after the initial time with the pot covered, if the pasta still needs some cooking, you can just add some extra stock and let it simmer uncovered.
• Stock, I like to use chicken stock, whether homemade, or purchased, it gives a lovely buttery flavour.  But feel free to use vegetable stock if you’d rather. 
• My rule of thumb for cooking orzo: For each 2 oz of dried orzo pasta, you will require 1 cup of stock.  Therefore if you are feeding 4 people, you will use 8 oz of orzo, and 4 cups of stock.  This is great to remember, because if you are ever on your own, and are craving orzotto, you can make up just enough for yourself, just adjust the cooking time if needed.
• Onion, 1 small to medium onion, chopped
• Garlic, minced
• Parmigiano-Reggiano Cheese, fresh grated is best
• Olive oil
• Dry White Wine, if you need to, you can replace with stock, but remember, the alcohol does burn off, leaving behind a lovely bright undertone to balance the creamy nature of the dish.
• Salt and Pepper

Now Let’s Add Some Tomato

Before the orzo is started on the stove top, you will add cherry tomatoes to a baking sheet, tossed in olive oil and some salt and pepper, and roast till just starting to burst.  These will be added to the final dish for ultimate tomatoey goodness!

And second, the tomato purée.  It can be from a jar, a can, homemade, or even just grating fresh juicy tomatoes on your box grater into a bowl.  This will be stirred into the orzo before the stock is added.

Brown Butter Sage Sauce

To finish this dish, and bring it into Autumn, adding a swirl of nutty brown butter, and crispy sage leaves is the perfect garnish!  It takes mere moments to foam the leaves in the butter.  They will crisp up before your eyes, and can be set aside till it is time to serve the dish.  All you will need is butter, and fresh sage leaves.  It’s as simple as adding butter to a small skillet over medium heat.  Once it starts to bubble, add in the sage leaves.  Let everything simmer away letting the butter go through all the stages of foaming.  Once the butter is at the nutty stage, remove the skillet from the heat, and gently take the crisped sage leaves out of the butter.  Now you are ready to garnish with the leaves, and drizzle the butter over the finished orzotto.

Final Thoughts

Making this dish is quite therapeutic, I just love stirring the pasta at the end in all it’s creamy goodness with the addition of grated parmesan.  Topping it with the intense roasted cherry tomatoes, and the nutty brown butter makes this a dish that will be both delicious and memorable.  Perfect as a weekday meal or side dish, this would make a fantastic first course for a weekend dinner party.  Can’t you just imagine this on the side of baked cod, or roasted chicken thighs!?

And yes, this dish is easily halved if it is just two of you!

If you make this Roasted Tomato Orzotto, please be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! It’s always lovely to hear from you guys, and I always do my best to respond to each comment or question. And of course, if you do make this recipe, and you post it on Instagram, don’t forget to also tag me so I can see! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is such a treat.

For other great Orzo based dishes, check out Saffron Orzotto with Asparagus, Creamy Cheesy Spinach Orzotto, Baked Cheesy Orzo Bolognese,  Squash and Chestnut Orzo with Brown Butter Sage

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Roasted Tomato Orzotto with Brown Butter Sage

Whether you serve this rich but bright orzotto dish as a main meal, or as a first course or side dish, you will be making it again and again! Bright roasted cherry tomatoes, brown butter, crispy sage all lend their flavours to this creamy pasta dish.

Course Main Course, Side Dish

Cuisine North American

Keyword brown butter, cherry tomatoes, orzotto, sage

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes

Servings 4

Ingredients

Roasted Cherry Tomatoes

• 1 cup cherry tomatoes two on the vine if you like
• 2 tbsp olive oil divided
• salt and pepper

Tomato Orzotto

• 1 medium onion chopped
• 1-2 medium garlic cloves minced (as per your desire)
• 1 tsp salt divided, more as needed
• 1 tsp black pepper divided
• 1/2 cup white wine see Notes
• 1 cup tomato purée can also use freshly grated tomatoes to make the one cup
• 4 cups chicken or vegetable stock plus more as needed
• 8 oz orzo or 225 grams
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese or more if desired
• pinch Espelette pepper optional

Brown Butter Sage Sauce

• 6 tbsp butter cubed into 1/2 inch pieces
• 16 fresh sage leaves patted dry

Instructions

Roasted Cherry Tomatoes

1. Preheat the oven to 425F.
2. Lay out the cherry tomatoes on a baking dish. Drizzle with olive oil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper, toss to coat well.
3. Bake in the oven till just taking on a burnish and starting to burst, 20-30 minutes. Set aside till needed.

Tomato Orzotto

1. Heat the olive oil in a braiser or large pot over medium heat.
2. Add the chopped onion, cook until the onion is translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the minced garlic and cook another minute. Season with 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper.
3. Add the orzo and stir through the onion and oil, ensuring to coat the pasta well, about one minute.
4. Add the white wine to the orzo, onions and garlic. Stir through and let cook till the wine is absorbed.
5. Add the tomato puree and stir through.
6. Add 3 cups of the chicken stock to the pot, and bring to a boil.
7. Cover and reduce the heat to low, but still maintaining a gentle simmer.

8. Simmer for 10 minutes, or until the orzo is almost cooked through, and most of the liquid has been absorbed by the orzo. Regularly stir the pot gently, pulling at everything settling at the bottom of the pot, to avoid it from scorching.

9. If the pasta isn't tender yet, continue cooking with the lid off after the 10 minutes. If most of the liquid has been absorbed, add more stock, a little at a time to keep the orzotto creamy. Better to have just a bit too much liquid, than have the orzotto finish dry and clumpy.

10. Just before serving, scatter in the remaining salt, pepper and parmesan cheese and stir through. Taste and re-season as desired. Top with the roasted cherry tomatoes, the crispy sage leaves and the brown butter drizzle. For a bright kick, sprinkle with Espelette pepper. Garnish with more cheese at the table.

Brown Butter Sage

1. When the orzotto almost finished you can make the brown butter sage.
2. In a small sauté or sauce pan, heat the butter over medium low heat.
3. As soon as it starts to foam up, add the sage leaves and cook together for about 3-5 minutes.
4. The butter will foam and turn brown. Don't stir or touch at this point.
5. When the foam subsides, remove the pan from the heat. The sage should be crispy.
6. Set the sage aside.
7. If serving the orzotto from the pot, just drizzle the butter over everything. Gently stir in.
8. If serving it in a presentation bowl of some sort, transfer to the bowl and then drizzle with the butter. Gently stir in.
9. Place the sage leaves all over the orzotto. Or save some for each individual serving.
10. You can finish with a final amount of parmesan cheese and a sprinkling of salt and pepper

11. See blog post for more details.