Simple Orzo Salad Recipe

This orzo salad with juicy pears, crunchy walnuts, and crumbles of daring gorgonzola cheese is full of totally different flavors and textures for a straightforward and scrumptious mild lunch or facet. Drizzled with tangy balsamic dressing, the sweet-salty-nutty-zesty mixture is severely gold!

Don’t miss out on my different pasta salads, like this refreshing Apple and Celery Pasta Salad, or make this Spaghetti Salad for a enjoyable twist on a traditional. And to your subsequent gathering, the Potluck Pasta Salad is a favorite round right here, combining quite a lot of flavors in a single incredible dish.

Final 12 months, I introduced this flavor-filled orzo salad to a Labor Day social gathering, and it was such successful! It was excellent for a late summer time day, with toasted walnuts, a bit of sentimental cheese, a little bit candy pear, orzo pasta, and a zesty French dressing. My family and friends couldn’t get sufficient of this. It’s like these transitional wardrobes that effortlessly take you from summer time to fall—this salad does the identical to your eating desk!

Recent sufficient for summer time cookouts but full of hearty substances which might be scrumptious year-round, this transitional pasta salad has develop into a staple in our household gatherings and potlucks.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe for Orzo Salad

• Filled with taste. There are all types of yummy flavors and textures happening right here. This salad has tender orzo pasta, crunchy nuts, tender, pungent cheese, and ripe, juicy pears. The sweet-salty and soft-crunchy distinction is to die for.
• Simple to make. Boil the orzo, toast the walnuts, and whisk the dressing, and your salad substances are able to go. Toss all the pieces collectively and it’s on the desk in minutes.
• Make it your individual. Not a fan of funky gorgonzola? Swap it out to your favourite delicate cheese. No walnuts within the pantry? Toast pecans as an alternative. You possibly can even change out the orzo on this salad to a different small pasta, or use grains as an alternative. You’ll discover a great deal of methods to serve it, too!

What Is Orzo?

I’ll admit, at any time when I’ve introduced out orzo at gatherings, there’s at the very least one visitor who thinks it’s rice! However, orzo isn’t rice. It’s really a short-cut pasta that’s formed rather a lot like rice. Even when orzo is gluten-free, it’s firmly a part of the pasta household.

Orzo pasta is tremendous versatile. I exploit it in rooster orzo soup, casseroles like my one-pot shrimp with orzo, salads, and extra. Heck, I’ll even add it to a frittata. It matches into so many dishes, and it’s even nice by itself. In the event you’ve by no means tried it, you’re going to adore it.

Components You’ll Want

One of the best half about this orzo salad is the way it packs in a lot satisfying taste with so few substances. Take a look at my notes on what you’ll want beneath.

• Orzo – You’ll discover orzo subsequent to its different members of the family within the pasta aisle. It’s brief and slender, formed like giant grains of rice. An alternative choice is couscous, or precise grains, like pearl barley or farro, which might even be nice on this recipe.
• Pears – I like Anjou or Bosc pears on this salad. They’re each agency and good for slicing. Anjou pairs have a candy citrusy style, whereas Bosc pears are spicier. Use your favourite!
• Walnuts – Toasting the walnuts in a skillet actually brings out their taste. You may also use pecans or almonds.
• Gorgonzola Cheese – Gorgonzola is a sort of tangy Italian blue cheese that offers this orzo salad a full-flavored, pungent kick (see beneath).
• Dressing – All you want is good-quality olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt, and pepper to make a recent French dressing.

What Does Gorgonzola Cheese Style Like?

You’ll normally discover two sorts of gorgonzola in shops. There’s dolce, which is sweeter and creamy, and piccante, which is the agency, crumbly variety that I exploit on this recipe. Piccante gorgonzola has a sharper, saltier taste. If it is advisable substitute it, I like to recommend French Roquefort or an English Stilton.

In fact, if blue cheese isn’t your factor, be at liberty to substitute the gorgonzola on this salad with goat cheese, feta, or shaved parmesan.

Tips on how to Make Orzo Salad

Together with your substances gathered, let’s make this orzo salad! You possibly can depend the steps on one hand, it’s that straightforward. Observe alongside beneath, and scroll all the way down to the recipe card for printable directions.

1. Cook dinner the orzo. First, you’ll boil the orzo al dente, then drain and rinse the cooked pasta underneath chilly water.
2. Toast the nuts. In the meantime, toast the walnuts frivolously over medium-high warmth. Stir typically in order that they don’t burn. Take the nuts out of the pan as quickly as they begin to scent aromatic.
3. Mix. Now, mix your orzo and toasted walnuts in a bowl. Add diced pears and gorgonzola cheese. Whisk collectively the dressing substances and drizzle it over the salad.
4. Serve. Give your orzo salad a mild toss, and revel in! See beneath for tasty serving concepts.

Serving Recommendations

As a facet, I serve this orzo salad the identical approach I’d serve a pasta salad. It’s scrumptious subsequent to cookout dishes like corn on the cob, turkey burgers, and grilled rooster skewers. It’s additionally nice by itself as a lightweight lunch. Or, flip your orzo salad right into a meal by including protein, like rooster or steak (steak slices style SO good with the blue cheese!).

Within the fall, the candy and daring flavors on this orzo salad make it the right pairing with roast pork tenderloin, with less difficult facet dishes like garlic steamed broccoli.

Make-Forward and Storage

Leftovers will maintain for 1-2 days within the fridge. After that, I discovered that the pears browned a little bit. Retailer this orzo salad in an hermetic container. In the event you discover that the orzo has dried out within the fridge, drizzle with olive oil earlier than serving. 

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