Orzo ‘fried’ rice with Asparagus

VEGAN, VEGETARIAN, NUT-FREE

Here is a gorgeous fusion recipe mixing Asian flavors with Italian pasta. 

It was nutty, smoky and crunchy – the whole wheat orzo’s chewy texture and crisp stir-fried asparagus married so well. 

Orzo is one pasta which always baffled me, it is not like regular pasta which has nooks and crevices to hold the sauce, it looks plain like rice. Typical pasta recipes don’t cut it for orzo (just my humble opinion 🤷🏻‍♀️😇 ) 

Why not stir up a ‘fried rice’ but use orzo in its place? I try to use alternate ingredient pasta – always try to stay away from the mundane ‘white pasta’. Today’s choice – Whole wheat pasta which adds a good fiber content. 

Gluten-free tip – Other pasta options are chickpea pasta, edamame pasta, black bean pasta and lentil pasta – all of these varieties are gluten-free as well. 

I also brought in frozen corn and strips of baby corn to pair up with asparagus to increase the crunch factor 😆

This dish will take you under 10 minutes on the stovetop with cooked pasta. Remember my golden tip – always keep par-cooked pasta in your freezer for such “10 minutes diner-ready” days… you always need them!!!! 

Secret ingredient – hot chili paste in oil – asian condiment

I used a large wok and stir-fried the veggies first to a crisp texture just 2-3 minutes on high heat. Add the pasta and the hot chili paste and continue tossing together on high heat to provide that rich smokey flavor. My entire kitchen was perfumed in the hot smoke flavor and we absolutely enjoyed it! 

Here are some more pasta recipes –

Fusion Dish – Bowtie pasta meets Asian flavors

Tangy lemon pasta with roasted corn

Creamy green lentil pasta with edamame and parsley