🍴arugula orzo with peppery umami breadcrumbs

I may be early for spring.. but who's counting

First off, thank you all so much for the beautiful messages last week. I’m feeling amazing after a few days of glamping and disconnecting, and I’m back, ready to rock. Not sure what the weather’s like where you are, but it’s so close to spring and in Vancouver it’s starting to feel like it, so I’m celebrating with a fresh, spring-y recipe.

To be honest, this recipe came to be because every time I buy a tub of arugula, I never seem to use it all up. I love it on sandwiches and tossed in a salad, but I can never seem to get it to the finish line. If you’ve had this problem too, bookmark this recipe for those days. It’s the perfect "entry to spring" dish—it’s bright and fresh thanks to the green sauce, but still comforting and hearty with the pasta and toasty breadcrumbs.

A friend of mine recently asked how to cook orzo, and it made me realize that I’ve got a ton of different methods depending on the dish. That’s why I love orzo—it’s SO versatile. While it’s technically pasta, I often treat it like risotto or cook it in a creamier way because it’s such an easy shortcut to that risotto vibe without all the stirring. Here’s a few of my “risotto” orzo recipes if you’re keen to check them out:

pesto meatballs with creamy orzo
creamy corn orzo with cajun chicken
roasted red pepper orzo with turkey feta meatballs

Today, we’re treating it more like pasta, with a saucy, green arugula-based sauce. I love a sneaky veggie sauce because I get to pack in the greens without having to make an entire side of veggies. And I know a lot of you love this hack for your partners or kiddos too!

We’re really leaning into the pepperiness of the arugula and topping the tangy, bright pasta with peppery, umami-packed toasty breadcrumbs. It’s the perfect balance of fresh and comforting.

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this week’s dinner, sorted: arugula orzo with peppery umami breadcrumbs

TOTAL TIME: 30 minutes
SERVES: 2

Note these are all US links as most of you are there! If you’re looking for Canadian links check here.

Chef’s knife
Cutting board (not my exact one but very similar)
Large pot
Immersion blender
Strainer
Microplane (for zesting the lemon and grating the parmesan)
Small frying pan (for the bread crumbs)
Spider (optional but helps remove the arugula from the water in step 2)

arugula orzo with peppery-umami breadcrumbs

1.14MB ∙ PDF file

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For the arugula sauce

• 5 oz arugula (1 small tub)

• 1/3 cup olive oil

• zest of 1 large lemon

• 1/4 cup water

For the peppery umami bread crumbs

• 1 tsp olive oil

• 3 anchovies

• 2 cloves garlic, minced

• 1 cup panko bread crumbs

• 1 tsp pepper

• 1/4 tsp chili flakes

• pinch of salt

For the rest

• 1 1/2 cups orzo

• 1 oz fresh grated parm (about 1/3 cup)

• 1/2 cup ricotta

Prep/mise en place:
✅ set ricotta on counter to bring to room temp
✅ wash and dry lemon and arugula if needed
✅ grate parmesan
✅ measure pepper and chili flakes
✅ mince 2 cloves garlic

1. Make the peppery umami bread crumbs
   Add 1 tsp olive oil to a small frying pan. Add 3 anchovies and place pan on medium heat. Once anchovy starts melting and can easily break up with a spoon, add 2 cloves minced garlic and 1/4 tsp chili flakes. Cook for about 1 minute until garlic starts to turn golden. Add 1 cup panko bread crumbs, 1 tsp pepper and a pinch of salt. Stir frequently until bread crumbs are completely golden. Remove from pan once cooked so they don’t burn from the residual heat.

2. Blanch arugula
   Boil water in a large pot and add a pinch of salt. Set up an ice bath (large bowl with ice and cold water). Once water is boiling, add arugula and cook for 1 minute. Leaving the water in the pot for later, remove and place in ice bath for a few minutes. Once fully cooled, squeeze out excess water and place into your immersion blender container. Add zest of 1 lemon and 1/3 cup olive oil with 1/4 cup cold water. Blend until smooth (a couple minutes). Set aside

3. Cook orzo
   To the same pot/boiling water, add orzo and cook according to package. Reserve 1/2 cup pasta water before draining and returning to pot. Add grated parmesan with a splash of pasta water and mix well. Once melted, add your arugula sauce and mix well. Taste and add lemon or salt if needed.

4. Serve
   Add pasta to bowls, top with dollops of ricotta, and finish with peppery umami bread crumbs. Finish with more lemon zest and olive oil.

Storing + reheating: store the pasta on it’s own and reheat in the microwave or in a pot with a splash of water.

A note on ricotta: do not skip!! The sweetness from the ricotta is important here to balance out the saltiness from the pasta.

What if I hate anchovies!?!: as someone who doesn’t love anchovies - you can’t taste them, just like in caesar salad, they just add an incredible umami to the bread crumbs. Trust me and try it. And with the leftovers, well make caesar salad dressing of course!! (my go to recipe is a part of this recipe)

What if I don’t have an immersion blender?: you can use a regular blender or food processor. Worst case if you have none of the above, you can finely chop the arugula, skip blanching/blending it, and add it to the cooked orzo with 2 tbsp oil (instead of the 1/3 cup) and the lemon zest and parmesan. It won’t be exactly the same but still tasty!

But.. protein?!: if you’re looking for more here, add some simple grilled chicken or prawns, or get wild and add some crispy prosciutto on top. 👌

Make it dairy-free: use dairy free parmesan and ricotta.

Make it gluten-free: use gf pasta and bread crumbs

If there is not a substitute listed I do not recommend omitting or substituting an ingredient as it will drastically change the final dish.

For the arugula sauce

• olive oil: if you don’t love the taste of olive oil, sub avocado oil

For the peppery umami bread crumbs

• olive oil: avocado oil.

• anchovies: like I mentioned above, you can’t taste them and I highly recommend using them. If you don’t want to buy a tin, you can buy paste which will last way longer. Sub 1 1/2 tsp paste.

• fresh garlic: you can sub in 1 tsp garlic powder, and add at the same time you add the pepper.

• panko bread crumbs: panko are best here as they are super crispy and add an awesome crunch, but if you’re in a pinch you can use regular bread crumbs.

For the rest

• orzo: any small pasta shape will be great here

• fresh grated parm: do not use pre-grated, or the “fake stuff” as it won’t melt right

• ricotta: the sweetness from the ricotta is important here to balance out the saltiness from the pasta, so I don’t recommend skipping, but you can sub mascarpone for a creamier/richer version.

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Questions? Drop a comment below and don’t forget to share if you make it!

With love from Reggie and her weekly stick pic 🫶