Three Cheese Chicken Broccoli and Orzo Casserole!! Cheesy, flavorful and perfect comfort food for a weeknight dinner! Use shredded rotisserie chicken as a shortcut and get dinner on the table faster!
Last week I was participating in the Love Your Kitchen Challenge with The Kitchn and Every Day with Rachael Ray (check this out, it’s going on all month and you can win $2,500 for a kitchen upgrade!) and I got to clean out my pantry. This was a very big job because my pantry (actually I have two) is huge and I have a lot of stuff. I tend to pack things in the back and forget about them so cleaning out my pantry and organizing was very needed. During my clean-up, I discovered just how much pasta I have (because I rarely cook the entire package for one meal so I had a lot of pasta boxes half full) and that I am a chips and snacks hoarder. Yes, I admit this.
The big win in this clean-up was finding a package of orzo that I forgot about. Now, I love orzo. We have to stop and take a moment and acknowledge what orzo really is. The poor misunderstood short-cut pasta, which often is mistaken for rice.
Orzo is pasta.
And I’ll be the first to admit that this dish isn’t going to win any beauty contests. . I still have not found my groove when shooting casseroles .. but boy, let me tell you. . this Three Cheese Broccoli and Orzo casserole is freaking delicious.
The ingredients that make this casserole for me, or any casserole for that matter, is the cheese. And I used the good stuff today.
I love cheese so when I received this glorious package of cheese from Sartori, I couldn’t help myself .. I invited friends over and we enjoyed the Merlot BellaVitano, the Rosemary and Olive Oil Asiago and the Espresso BellaVitano right away. I was left with the utterly delicious and perfect SarVecchio Parmesan so I used this in my casserole and added some Wisconsin cheddar and mozzarella.
The cheese, the orzo and the chicken and broccoli make this casserole. This is comfort food. Good hearty food at it’s finest. You have to try this. . and the next time you’re at the grocery store, look for the Sartori Cheese (a Wisconsin cheese!). . they were all so good but I enjoyed the Merlot BellaVitano the most. So good!! Look for it!
Three Cheese Broccoli and Orzo Casserole
Ingredients
- 2 cups chicken or mushroom broth
- ½ pound orzo pasta
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 onion chopped
- 8 ounces cremini mushrooms sliced
- 2 to 3 cup broccoli florets chopped
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- 3/4 cup parmesan freshly grated + more before baking
- 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1 cup cheddar cheese freshly grated or shredded
- 1 to 2 cups shredded or chopped cooked chicken can use breast, thigh meat or rotisserie chicken
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Grease or spray, using non-stick baking spray, a 9 x 13-inch baking casserole dish.
- Using a medium sized saucepan over medium-high heat, bring the broth to a boil. Add the orzo and cook until almost tender, for about 7 minutes, turning the heat down to medium-low once the orzo has been added and mixing occasionally so the orzo does not stick to your saucepan. Most, if not all, of the broth will be absorbed into the orzo. Remove from heat and set aside.
- Using a large skillet over medium-high heat, heat the olive oil and add the onions and saute until tender, for about 3 minutes. Add the mushrooms and broccoli and continue to saute for about 5 to 6 minutes.
- Turn the heat to low and add in the cooked orzo and any remaining broth. Pour in the heavy cream and the parmesan, mozzarella, cheddar cheese and cooked chicken and mix well to combine everything. Remove from the heat and season with salt and pepper and stir to combine. Pour the mixture into the prepared baking casserole dish.
- Sprinkle on a little more parmesan over the top if desired and bake until golden and the cheese has melted, for about 20 to 25 minutes. Allow to cool slightly before cutting and serving. Enjoy while hot.
Disclosure: This is not a sponsored post. Sartori Cheese sent me the cheese as shown above. All opinions expressed here are 100% my own.
