Risoni Recipes....

I have found alot of pasta salad recipes but is there anything else l can do with it

Hi, you can put it in just about anything to help boost volume and to thicken! I use it alot in soups, mince and other stewy type dishes. Just add to the dish early enough to soften properly. Also use it in risottos, along with rice.

tweenie3, risoni (aka orzo) can also be used in soup, in desserts e. g. baked 'macaroni' custard, as a rice substitute or, maybe you'd like to try this which is very appropriate for right now when lovely fresh asparagus isavailable:

"1 tbsp butter
! /2 cup orzo pasta
1 1/4 cups water
1 tsp vegeta vegetable stock powder
pinch tumeric
8 spears fresh asparagus chopped into 1 inch pieces
freshly ground black pepper
1 good tbsp freshly grated parmesan cheese (more if liked)

Melt the butter in a heavy saucepan and add the pasta, cook over the heat for one minute, the add the water, tumeric and stock powder, stir to combine. Simmer for 2-3 min, add the asparagus and continue to simmer until pasta is cooked. Keep the pasta on the wet side by adding a little bit more water if need be. Stir in the cheese over the heat until melted and season with pepper. The end result should be like a creamy rissotto. Enjoy. "

The above recipe is from:- http://www.foodlovers.co.nz/forum/read. php? 3, 32486, 32486#msg
-32486 and is thanks to karen. :-))

and cuteviolet's posting has reminded me that I have also on the odd occasion used risoni/orzo as a thickener but nowdays I tend to use couscous instead as, unlike risoni/orzo, couscous needs no actual cooking. :-))

Wishbone make (or made) a really nice Mediterranean risoni, and it was like a warm salad, with sundried tomatoes, kalamata olives, feta, corn kernels, parsley etc all chopped up small and added with olive oil to the cooked risoni. It was so nice, and would be very easy to make too.

[quote nowdays I tend to use couscous instead as, unlike risoni/orzo, couscous needs no actual cooking. :-))[/quote]

I never thought of using couscous for a thickener, what an excellent idea - thank you.

nfh1, a couple of things that you might like to know re using couscous as a thickener - firstly, if you're particular about the appearance of the dish being thickened, please be aware that the couscous is quite visible, depending of course on how much has couscous has been used and that's the second point to note - unless the dish to be thickened is an extremely runny brew, it takes only a little couscous to do the thickening - remember just how much liquid couscous absorbs and be light-handed rather than heavy-handed with the couscous but do try using couscous in that way - it's quick, it's easy and it doesn't alter the flavour of whatever it is added to, rather the couscous takes on the flavour of whatever it's added to. :-))

thanks again 245sam -

sometimes I end up with too much liquid in the SC so thought it would be good for that. I will give it a try with a tiny bit and see what happens.

Another useful thickener is burghul - it is already cooked so just needs a few minutes to soak up the liquid and swell. The texture is really nice in beefy stews and other robust dishes.

I know you weren't after salad recipes, but this is really easy, and soooo yummy.
To cooked rissoni, add a chopped spring onion and as much pesto as you think it needs. I've used the basil, pine nut and parmesan one, as well as the roasted capsicum one. Add extra parmesan cheese to taste. If it seems a little dry, add a bit of olive oil.

if you have a crockpot you can make some meatballs and put them in the crockpot along with some risoni and a tin of flavoured tomatoes. The risoni will swell as it cooks and absorb fluid from the tomatoes, giving a nice flavour... if you dont have a slow cooker... make and cook the meatballs in your usual manner... put tin of tomatos and risoni into a pot and cook... watch carefully so it doesnt stick to pot and you may need to add a bit more fluid eg tomato puree... you can also add any seasonings to the tomato if you like... this also freezes well.

Risoni bump