Brown Butter Mushroom Orzo
After over a year of self-restraint, I finally gave in and got the giant box of mixed dried mushrooms from Costco. It comes with dried yellow boletus, oyster mushrooms, porcini, and portobello, and I’m so excited to have fun mushroom on hand all the time!! I am equally excited for all the good good mushroom stock that will come from rehydrating these bbs. This brown butter mushroom orzo recipe incorporates the mushroom stock, adding another level of umami to the dish.
Can I make this with fresh mushrooms?
Yes, of course! I would sub the dried ones out for equal amounts of your favorite mushrooms, and sub out the mushroom stock for chicken stock or dashi.
I used (serves 2-3)
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 medium shallot, thinly sliced
- 1 cup dried mushrooms, rehydrated in 2 cups hot water and roughly chopped (mine are from Costco!)
- 1 cup orzo
- 2 cups baby spinach
- 1 tsp soy sauce
- 1/2 lemon
- salt
- black pepper
- red chili flakes
- extra virgin olive oil
- parmesan
To make:
- rehydrate dried mushrooms per box instructions, and chop up the mushrooms. set aside the mushroom stock
- melt butter over medium heat, swirling until foam subsides, it should look brown and smell nutty ~3-4 minutes
- add in shallots and cook until softened ~2 minutes, seasoning with salt and black pepper
- then add in the dried mushrooms and cook for another 2 minutes then strain in the mushroom stock, removing any grit, and bring to a simmer
- stir in orzo and cook until orzo is tender based on package instructions ~10 minutes, on medium low
- if it’s looking too dry, add in another half cup of water
- stir in spinach along with zest of half a lemon, keep mixing until spinach softens
- add in a splash of soy sauce and season with salt, pepper, chili flakes
- finish with extra virgin olive oil and grated parmesan