October 19th: pumpkin orzo

With quite a bit of pumpkin still to go, even having made two pumpkin cakes, October 2011's Chatelaine came in handy, with a couple of pumpkin recipes to try out. First up: pumpkin orzo. Although it looks soupy in the picture below, it is really somewhere between soup and pasta. This recipe also provided an excellent opportunity to use some of my post-Thanksgiving turkey stock. In the end we didn't love the recipe, but it was good, and made an ever-so-slight dent in the pumpkin purée supply.


Pumpkin Orzo


1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion,  chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 cup orzo
1/4 cup pumpkin purée
1 tsp dried crumbled sage
1  1/2 cups chicken broth
salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Parmesan cheese


Heat olive oil in medium pot over medium heat. Cook onion until starting to soften, 3-4 minutes, being careful not to burn. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute more. Stir in orzo, then pumpkin purée and sage. Add chicken broth and increase heat to bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer until orzo is tender, 5-8 minutes. Taste and add salt and pepper if required. Top with Parmesan.


Makes 2 servings.

Served with raw veggies and boiled salted edamame.
Parmesan cheese for topping the pasta/soup.