Orzo

Orzo (; lit. 'barley'; Italian: [ˈɔrdzo]; from Latin hordeum), is a form of short-cut pasta shaped like a large grain of rice. Orzo is traditionally made from flour, but it can also be made of whole grain. It is often made with semolina, a type of flour made from durum wheat.

The name orzo is common for this pasta shape in North America, but less so in Italy, where the word usually still means 'barley'.

Preparation

There are many different ways to serve orzo. Orzo can be an ingredient in soup, including avgolemono, a Greek soup, and in Italian soups such as minestrone. It can also be part of a salad, a pilaf, or giouvetsi, or baked in a casserole.

It can also be boiled and lightly fried, to create a dish similar to risotto.

When the pasta is made, the orzo can be colored by saffron, chilies, and black beans to yield yellow, orange, or black pasta.

Other names

Orzo is essentially identical to the κριθαράκι (kritharáki, lit. 'little barley'), or μανέστρα (manestra when in soup) in Greek cuisine, arpa şehriye (lit. 'barley noodle') in Turkish cooking, and لسان العصفور (lisān al-ʿaṣfūr, lit. 'sparrow tongue') in Egyptian cooking. In Spain, the equivalent pasta is called piñones (also the Spanish word for pine nuts, which orzo resembles). Ptitim is a rice-grain-shaped pasta developed in the 1950s in Israel as a substitute for rice.

It is also part of the traditional cuisine of the east of France, from Lorraine to Provence, where orzo is called pépinettes or riewele depending on the region. In Alsace, orzo is typically served in a chicken broth.

See also

Media related to Orzo at Wikimedia Commons

• List of pasta
• Fregula
• Wedding soup

References