Chicken and Mushroom Orzotto

One pan meals have me in a chokehold

Autumnal dishes are never the most aesthetic; however, they are always packed with flavor. Some of the best tasting comfort dishes I’ve had have muted colors and various hues of brown and beige. So here i’ve created a one pan chicken and mushroom orzotto with a homemade mushroom stock.

Let’s chat about Mushrooms

I was not a fan of mushrooms for the longest time. The main grievance I had was their texture. Turns out, I just didn’t know how to prepare them correctly. I’m willing to bet that the majority of people who don’t *like* mushrooms fall in this boat as well.

Mushrooms are earthy umami flavor bombs that can stand alone or be the best companion to almost any dish due to their versatility.

Key points to cooking mushrooms:

• Don’t crowd the pan- Mushrooms need room to breathe, too close together and they will end up steaming instead of browning.

• Be patient and stir infrequently.

• Treat mushrooms like you would a protein- use medium high heat you want a nice toasted brown color on these funky fungi.

• Salt and Butter are a Mushroom’s best friend.

Like sponges, mushrooms take on the flavors around them which allows you to be super creative in how you use them.

They also are a great meat alternative! So if you are vegetarian you can always leave the chicken out of this recipe and still enjoy it :).

Now, I am loosely using the term “orzotto.” This one pan orzo is creamy like a risotto but much less labor intensive. With very little babysitting this is a great weeknight or busy weekend meal. (You can also prepare the mushroom stock ahead of time).