Tomato Basil Chicken (and Shrimp) Orzo from The Flavors of Kitchen

Tomato Basil Chicken (and Shrimp) Orzo - made January 1, 2023 from The Flavors of Kitchen

1 1/2 cups orzo

500 grams boneless, skinless chicken breast, cubed

2 tablespoons oil 

1/2 cup onion, chopped

1 tablespoon garlic, minced

4 tablespoons tomato paste

salt and pepper to taste

1/4 teaspoon red chili flakes

4 cups chicken stock, warm

1 cup fresh basil

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded

1. Heat oil in skillet. Add chopped onion and minced garlic. Saute until onion is soft and transparent. Add cubed chicken breast and saute for 2 minutes on medium high heat.
2. Add tomato paste, chili flakes, salt and pepper; stirring to mix well. 
3. Add orzo and warm 3 1/2 cups chicken stock. Hold back 1/2 cup of chicken stock to mix in later if needed. Stir well. 
4. Once mixture begins to boil, lower heat and let cook slowly, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking.
5. Cook until orzo is done, adding reserved chicken stock if mixture dries or as needed. Once orzo is cooked, remove from heat and stir in fresh basil. Serve warm.

It's not exactly a tradition or even a New Year's resolution or intention but around every new year's, before I prepare for the new year of work, I try to do some cooking for the days ahead. As in do some batch cooking, portion into individual-size meals for the freezer and buy myself a few weeks' grace of prepared meals and no takeout. 

While home-cooked meals are instinctively more healthy than restaurant or takeout meals (at least where I go and based on what I order to go), I don't do it as often as I should. Except for the new year.

Since orzo has become my new favorite go-to pasta, this is also when I clear out my pinterest board of "real food" recipes to try. This has all the earmarks of what I look for in a recipe: easy to make, not to many ingredients, nothing too spicy and very do-able for me.

It also helps that I shopped at Costco for the big pack of shrimp and a multi-pack of chicken tenderloins. Then Trader Joe's for the win with fresh basil, orzo and the tomato paste in the tube. This only calls for 2 tablespoons of tomato paste and I didn't want a half-full can of tomato paste I had to worry about using fairly soon. Tube tomato paste to the rescue - who knew that was a thing? I do now.

I liked this recipe as it turned out pretty well. It does dry up a bit once it's cooled so don't let it boil for too long and it's better to err with a bit more sauce left before the orzo absorbs it all. Next time I would probably use more basil than I did, simply because I like basil. I'm glad I added extra protein so it felt more like eating a casserole than simply a plain pasta dish.