(Serves 4)
What’s the definition of “Mom food”? What comes to mind for me are recipes that are easy to prepare, kids will eat them without complaining, and contain real ingredients. Taking that a step further, I would say my favorite “mom food” recipes can also be prepared in advance to make dinnertime easier. I can even put my feet up or have a glass of wine while it cooks (or do something else more productive). This recipe checks all the boxes and is also delicious comfort food.
Feel free to change up the vegetables in the dish to suit your family. I like to make this with fresh peas, but my son doesn’t like them. His request is to make this without those “green round things”. If I put them in, he picks them out. Can’t win them all, I guess. It’s delicious with or without.
You Will Need:
- 1 pound cooked chicken breast, (rotisserie, leftover, or poached chicken work well)
- 2 carrots
- 2 celery stalks
- 1 large shallot
- 1-2 cloves garlic
- ¾ cup fresh peas
- 1 cup orzo
- 3 cups chicken stock
- ½ cup heavy cream
- ½ cup grated parmesan cheese, plus more for serving
- 3 tablespoons parsley, plus more for serving
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- Kosher salt and black pepper
Instructions:
The day before:
- Chop the shallot, celery and carrots.
- Preheat the olive oil in a medium-large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chopped vegetables. Season with salt and pepper and cook for 5-8 minutes until tender.
- Meanwhile, peel and finely dice the garlic and chop the parsley.
- Chop the cooked chicken into small bite sized pieces.
- Pour the uncooked orzo, peas, and the chopped chicken into the bottom of an 8×8” baking pan sprayed with olive oil spray. Set aside.
- Once the vegetables are tender, add the garlic to the pan and cook for another minute.
- Add the chicken stock and cream to the pan, bring to a boil.
- Once the liquid comes to a boil, turn off the heat. Stir in the parmesan cheese, parsley, and season again with salt and pepper. Pour the mixture over the orzo, chicken, and peas in the pan and stir. Set aside to cool. The mixture will be very soupy.
- Cover and refrigerate overnight.
When it’s time for dinner:
- Let the dish come to room temperature for a few minutes.
- Place the baking dish in the cold oven. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Once the oven reaches temperature, bake for 30-35 minutes until most of the liquid has been absorbed, but the remaining liquid at the edges is bubbling.
- Let the dish stand for 5-10 minutes so any liquid can be absorbed.
- Serve topped with more parsley and parmesan.
