Scrambled Eggs, Cheese, and Avocado Tortilla Bowl Recipe
September 16, 2025
One Pot Italian Chicken & Orzo / Risoni Pasta Recipe
A fast and simple orzo / risoni pasta recipe for dinner tonight – chicken infused with Italian flavours and a wealthy tomato basil risoni, all made in a single pot! Marinating the chicken is non-obligatory – you possibly can skip it by slicing the chicken into thinner steaks. Fill out the veggies and swap the herbs for no matter takes your fancy.
If in case you have chicken breast within the fridge and risoni in your pantry, you can also make this tonight!
I hardly made a “regular” meal throughout the entire month of December.
I used to be dwelling on leftovers, whether or not it was meals I made for my weblog or leftovers from gatherings. Don’t even get me began in regards to the RecipeTin Household Christmas. These of you who have discovered me on Instagram could have seen that the RecipeTin Christmas lunch was nonetheless going sturdy at 10pm when the primary course was served. Sure, I stated LUNCH.
Oi. I needed to nap between programs. I’m not even kidding. And there have been days and days of leftovers. “You HAVE to take some,” my mom says forcefully. “Everyone has to take their share!” she declares, as she packs up takeaway containers. [Side note: This is the ritual for every family feasting gathering. She gets really cranky that we depart her house leaving her fridge filled with leftovers, half empty bottles and all manner of ingredients we bring to prepare things at her house that SHE then feels obliged to consume for days afterwards. BA HA HA!!!]
Now the 2nd of January has arrived and vacation feasting is formally over. No fridge filled with dips and leftover Christmas ham. No mimosas for breakfast. 😉
So it appears becoming to launch 2017 with a terrific midweek meal, mild on washing up, BIG on flavour, and on the desk in (simply over) half-hour. 🙂
This risoni pasta recipe is all made in a single pot, and it’s not nearly saving on washing up. It’s about utilizing all of the free flavour you get from searing the chicken within the skillet because the flavour base for the risoni. Did you discover the wealthy and darkish pink color of the tomato coating the risoni pasta? No tomato paste used, simply 1 small can of crushed tomato. The richness of the color and flavour comes from the brown bits caught on the skillet after the chicken is cooked.
This type of meals is completely me. It’s easy however tremendous tasty (it’s all the time all in regards to the flavour! 😉 ), fuss free, and fast to arrange. No fancy substances to seek out, and in reality, if in case you have a basil plant in your backyard and chicken in your fridge, chances are high you’ve gotten every part you want to make this proper now!
If time permits, marinating the chicken is the best choice as a result of if actually infuses the chicken with flavour. Nevertheless, in case you are pressed for time, simply reduce the chicken breast in half horizontally to make two skinny steaks. These will cook dinner in half the time it takes to cook dinner a complete chicken breast and also you gained’t must marinate. The opposite method to make that is to cook dinner chew dimension items of chicken WITH the risoni, so I’ve acquired notes within the recipe for that too. 🙂
The chicken on this risoni recipe is basically scrumptious, particularly in case you marinate it, however I need to confess that the star is the risoni! I used to be watching a Nigella Lawson cooking present just lately and he or she declared this methodology of cooking risoni in a single pot (moderately than cooking it individually then including it right into a sauce) to be “all the trend” in Italy in the intervening time. Now, as common readers know, I’m not about meals developments. However I need to confess that it feels fairly cool to be doing one thing that’s apparently “all the trend” !!! – Johnsat xx
Extra risoni / orzo recipes
-
Orzo / Risoni Bolognaise – one pot bolognese pasta dish!
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Greek Lemon Orzo Salad – a brilliant recent pasta salad loaded with Greek flavours
-
Creamy Salmon Risoni / Orzo (15 Minute Meal) – tastes like risotto, besides MUCH quicker to make!
-
Creamy Mushroom and Spinach Orzo (Risoni) (One Pot) – tastes like a creamy mushroom risotto
-
Baked Greek Chicken Orzo (Risoni) – Greek chicken AND orzo made in a single pot!
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One Pot Creamy Chicken, Vegetable & Parmesan Orzo (Risoni) – creamy chicken and vegetable orzo, a fast 20 minute meal
-
Pea, Zucchini and Pesto Orzo / Risoni – a beautiful fast facet dish
WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp white wine vinegar
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- 1 tsp Italian herb mix (or make your own with basil, parsley, oregano)
- 1 garlic clove , minced
- 1/2 tsp salt + black pepper
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 4 x 110 – 120g/4oz chicken breasts , skinless and boneless (Note 1)
- 1/2 tbsp olive oil (if required)
- 1 small onion , finely chopped (brown, white, yellow)
- 1 garlic clove , minced
- 1 red capsicum / bell pepper , chopped
- 1 1/2 cups risoni / orzo pasta (Note 2)
- 400 g / 14 oz can crushed tomato
- 3 cups chicken stock / broth
- 1 tsp Italian herb mix
- Pinch of red pepper flakes (chilli flakes) (optional)
- Salt and pepper
- 1/4 cup (3 tbsp) grated parmesan cheese (optional)
- 1 cup basil leaves
Instructions
- Mix Marinade ingredients together in a large bowl. Add chicken and mix to coat. Marinate for 1 hour – 24 hours (See Note 3 to skip marinating).
- Heat oil in skillet over medium heat. Add chicken and cook for 4 minutes on each side, or until cooked. Transfer to a plate and cover with foil to keep warm while resting.
- Turn heat up to medium high. Add oil if required.
- Add onion and garlic, cook for 2 minutes. Add capsicum and cook for 1 minute or until onion is translucent.
- Add risoni, tomato, chicken stock, Italian herbs, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper. Mix and bring to simmer, then lower heat to medium low or so it simmers gently.
- Cook for 9 – 10 minutes, stirring frequently (otherwise it will stick).
- Take it off the stove when the risoni is just cooked (touch under is ok, finishes cooking in residual heat very quickly). It should still be saucy (see video).
- Stir through parmesan and basil – excess liquid will evaporate in this step.
- Spoon risoni into serving bowls, top with chicken. Serve with extra parmesan and basil.
Notes
1. As you can see in the recipe video, the breast fillets I used were very small – perfect for a single serving. If you can only get larger ones, cut them in half horizontally to make 2 steaks (per breast) and cook for 2 – 3 minutes on each side. Go by weight – aim for around 120 – 150g/4-5oz of chicken per serving.
2. Risoni / orzo pasta is the rice shaped pasta. You can find it in the pasta section of supermarkets.
3. To skip the marinating, just cut the chicken breast in half horizontally to form two thin steaks, or slice into strips. If the steaks are much thicker than 1cm/2/5″ thick, pound to even thickness. Then coat with Marinade and proceed with recipe without marinating (though even 5 minutes of marinating time helps!), but cut down the chicken cook time to 2 – 3 minutes per side. Also see Note 4 below.
4. Cooking chicken with risoni: In this recipe, I cooked whole chicken breast to place on top of the risoni. The other option is to cut the chicken into bite size pieces, marinate briefly. Then heat skillet on high, cook onion and garlic, then add chicken with the capsicum. Cook until outside is browned (inside still raw), turn heat down to medium low, follow recipe to cook risoni. This method is actually faster too – the whole recipe will be done in around 25 minutes.
5. Nutrition per serving (4 servings). The serving sizes are very generous!
Did You Make This Recipe?
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