Baked Orzo with Fontina and Peas; Blackberry Cobbler

YUM. I actually got to make dinner last night. I'm still amazed at myself. Of course, I didn't do anything else... but at least I was productive! There are leftovers!

First up was Giada's recipe . I did modify it because I didn't have time to get all the ingredients, and wasn't sure about the mushrooms. I don't like them, but hubs is picky about them so next time I'll make it more spot-on.

Baked Orzo with Fontina and Peas

4 cups chicken broth (found out i didn't have any chicken broth... sub #1 = water)
1 pound orzo pasta
3 tablespoons butter, plus more to grease the baking dish
1 onion, chopped
8 ounces mushrooms, sliced (none of these either!)
1 cup Marsala wine
1/2 cup heavy cream
4 ounces shredded fontina cheese (about 1 cup)
4 ounces diced fresh mozzarella cheese (about 1 cup) (i had an italian cheese blend, bag o' shred)
1 cup frozen peas, thawed
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup bread crumbs (ran out of these too! i'm so bad at this.)
1/4 cup grated Parmesan
1 teaspoon dried thyme

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Butter a 9 by 13-inch baking dish.

Bring the chicken broth to a boil over medium-high heat in a medium saucepan. Add the orzo and cook until almost tender, about 7 minutes. Pour the orzo and the broth into a large bowl. Set aside.

Meanwhile, melt the butter over medium heat in a medium skillet. Add the onions and saute until tender, about 3 minutes. Add the mushrooms and continue to saute until the mushrooms are beginning to turn golden around the edges, about 7 minutes. Add the Marsala. Scrape the brown bits off the bottom of the pan and cook until the Marsala has reduced by half, about 5 minutes. Add the mushroom mixture to the orzo in the large bowl. Add the cream, fontina, mozzarella, peas, salt, and pepper. Stir to combine. Pour the mixture into the prepared baking dish.

In a small bowl combine the bread crumbs, Parmesan, and dried thyme. Sprinkle the bread crumb mixture on top of the pasta. Bake until golden, about 25 minutes.

Verdict: pretty darn good! I'll try it the 'real' way next time, but it worked just fine my screwy way so I'm predicting a surefire hit with the true ingredients.

Next: dessert! this was a recipe I gleaned from the website of my (kind-of) local orchard. It was pretty easy... I almost wondered if they left something out! But this is a great quick dessert for hectic nights.

Blackberry Cobbler

Note from the Editor:
A tasty, light dessert, this cobbler has long been a family favorite. It is a great Sunday evening supper or quick dish to prepare for unexpected visitors. The blackberries can be substituted by any other berry or sour cherries. (If using frozen or canned fruit, must drain well!) ENJOY!

Ingredients

1 c. flour
1 c. sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1 c. milk
1 tsp. vanilla
2 c. fresh fruit
4 Tbs. butter (melted)

Combine flour, sugar, and baking powder in a two quart baking dish. Stir in milk and vanilla to make a thin batter (do not over-mix). Place fruit over batter and drizzle melted butter over top. Do not stir. Bake at 350° for 30-40 minutes.

Fantastic! Loved it. So easy. Not as healthy as some, but it was fast, easy, and mmm mmm good. Hubs tried to tell me what I used were black raspberries...so that led into a 10-minute conversation about berries that really wasn't necessary. Oh well.