This was such a fun little dish! It was super easy to put together, used pre-cooked chicken breast that I had in the fridge and the addition of the Mascarpone Cheese and Orzo pasta rounded everything out.
Orzo is a type of pasta that closely resembles rice but it's lighter, fluffs up a little more and cooks super quick. I also used my Shredded Meal Prep Chicken to add some protein, a medium sized zucchini, mascarpone to provide an element of creaminess and lastly, it came together in just a few minutes and only required one pan.
On Sunday, our girls have swimming lessons. Usually this coincides with our son Caleb's nap, so my husband took the girls this week to swimming and I used the free hour to get some meal prep done for the week, catch up on life and just *breathe.*. We trade off...that's life with 3 kids 4 and under. :)
Also, to be frank, I'm still working through a container of mascarpone cheese. It's essentially a sweeter cream cheese. It still gives dishes a wonderfully creamy flavor, it melts well, and it tastes delicious on bagels, but we aren't big bagel fans here...and I have been laying off the heavy cheese dishes because I'm lactose intolerant. Much to my family's dismay! So to make the best of my hour, I decided to crank out a few decent meal prep recipes, use up any just-about-done-ingredients, get dinner ready for the night and clean up the kitchen...in an hour. Happy to say I managed that, barely.
So let's talk about mascarpone cheese. It functions well as a cream agent in any dish, even in small amounts, which is what I did here. Pasta, chicken, vegetables, cheese...seems like a winner. And it was!! My hubby went back for seconds as did my toddlers and our sweet baby boy shoveled it in not even bothering to use a fork despite how particular and affectionate he is about using a fork with every single item put onto his high-chair. God love him. The next ingredient to point out is orzo pasta. It's kind of like longer grains of rice, except fluffier, cooks faster and easier than rice, less chances of burning it and it's also REALLY good. Completely underrated. I highly recommend it.
I started first with sautéing my zucchini in a bit of olive oil and garlic. Just until the garlic became fragrant, about one minute. Then I added my seasonings - salt and pepper. Keeping it easy! Next was my orzo. I toasted it a bit to add some additional depth of flavor before adding in my chicken broth. The orzo cooked beautifully in about 8 minutes, stirring frequently. It absorbed all the flavors, I added in my shredded chicken, lemon juice and zest, and cooked for about 2 more minutes. Next was the fresh dill, parmesan and mascarpone cheese. If you have dairy issues and don't feel like dealing with them, feel free to skip. But if you can/don't mind, add them. They added such a yummy little zip to the pasta it was irresistible.
I served it just as is. The only thing I can say I truly did wrong was not double this. It only used half a box of orzo and only half a pound of chicken. My first intention to be honest, was to do this as a side dish. Once my husband and kids starting eating it though, I realized that was dinner.
***Just to note, if you do not have pre-cooked chicken, cook bite-sized chicken breast pieces for about 5-6 minutes, then add in your zucchini to cook for another 5, THEN add in your orzo and continue the cooking process. Do not add the orzo until your chicken is cooked to ensure it becomes tender during the pasta-boiling process.
Enjoy!
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