I had forgotten to go grocery shopping and I was trying to figure out what to make for dinner. A few chicken thighs, a box of orzo that I normally use in soups, half a bag of baby spinach… this wasn’t looking very promising. I scanned my pantry and fridge with a critical eye as I remembered my mother standing in the exact same position when I was a kid.

She would stare at that fridge before tilting her head to me with a winning smile. “You know what that means tonight is, right?” she would ask, “Tonight, we are having an explosion!” In mom speak, that meant that she was going to throw something together with whatever was there, and we would see how it went.

When dad came home from work and asked what was for dinner, Mom would call out “Chicken Explosion!” or “Beef and Potato Explosion!” or whatever she chose as the head liner for the evening. Dads eyes would get wide and he’d ooh and ahh over what she could have put together. You see, explosions could go very good or very bad. Thank goodness that my mother is an excellent cook and they went very well, very often.

The problem with explosions was that there was never a recipe. It was thrown together spur-of-the-moment cooking and could never be recreated! How many spectacular meals did I eat that I will never again have the joy of eating?? (It was these moments in life that have led to me keeping a notebook in my kitchen.) If the explosion for the night is met with a plethora of happy food noises, I write it down immediately so I can make it again. I am not losing yumminess.

This dish was one of those winners. I mean, what’s not to love? Pasta, wine, brown butter!!- all of these are great, it is just mixing them together! I always have butter (by the pound, yes) in the house and brown butter is one of the most versatile and easy sauces. You can make it warm by adding cayenne and red pepper flakes, you can make it herbaceous by adding fresh or dry herbs, or you can simply have it cook with a sage leaf for a drizzle over steaks. Wine reductions add zings of flavor whether cooked into veggies, as we are doing here. or done by itself as a glaze. This one was bound to be good and I hope you like it as much as we do.

As a note for this recipe specifically, it may seem like I am using A LOT of salt and pepper and… I kind of am. There are 2 reasons: one is because that is really the only seasoning I am using and, two, everything going into this dish is very mellow. It needs a lot of seasoning to balance it out. Your tastes may be different from mine though, so make sure you taste everything as you go along and season to your own tastes.

Chicken and Orzo in a Brown Butter Red Wine Sauce

Pasta Base:

• 1 Package of Orzo, cooked per package instructions
• 2-3 cups Chopped spinach

Chicken Thighs:

• 1 tbsp House Blend Olive Oil
• 2 cups (3-5) Boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cubed
• Salt and pepper

Red Wine Reduction:

• 1 tbsp Unsalted butter
• 1 Large white or yellow onion, small dice
• 4 Cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 tsp Ground Mustard
• Salt and pepper
• ¾ c Red wine (I recommend a bold mellow wine like a merlot)

Brown Butter:

• ¾ c (12 tbsp) Unsalted butter

Pasta:

As stated, cook the orzo according the instructions on the package, but we are adding a twist to the end. When you drain your pasta, DO NOT RINSE IT. Return the pasta to the large pot it was cooked in and immediately stir in your chopped spinach. The heat of the pasta will wilt the spinach to perfection. Season this heavily with salt and pepper, cover, and set aside.

Chicken Thighs:

In a heavy pan (you know me, I <3 cast iron), heat your olive oil over medium high heat and add your cubed chicken thighs. Season heavily with salt and pepper and allow the chicken to get a good sear before cutting the heat down to medium to finish cooking the chicken through, stirring occasionally.

*Helpful hint- the smaller your pieces, the faster they cook. Normally cube my chicken down to about ½ in to ¾ in and this cooking through process normally takes about 10 minutes.

When chicken is cooked through, dump it straight into the pot of pasta and spinach.

Red wine reduction:

In the pan that you cooked your chicken in, melt your butter over medium heat. Add your onion, garlic, ground mustard, and season heavily with salt and pepper. Cook down for a few minutes until onions begin to go translucent.

(If you use salted butter in this step, you can season with slightly less salt. You absolutely cannot use salted butter in the brown butter sauce however, so I find it easier just to use the same stuff the whole recipe through.)

Add your wine and deglaze your pan. Simmer the mixture stirring occasionally until it has reduced and only about a tablespoon remains of the wine.

*Helpful hint- your onions will turn purple and be little pops of flavor, but we don’t want to turn the pasta purple so make sure that the wine is thoroughly reduced.

Remove from heat and set aside.

Brown Butter:

In a small sauce pan, melt the butter over Medium-High heat. Once the butter is boiling, whisk it vigorously in the pan until the butter mixture appears to turn the color of caramel. The solids in the pan will darken and try to settle so keep whisking to prevent burning. Once it has achieved a medium brown color, dump the pot of brown butter into you red wine reduction and stir them together until well blended.

Pour your red wine/ brown butter sauce over your waiting pot of orzo, spinach, and chicken. Mex this in well.

Add more salt and pepper if you think it needs it or even finish with parmesan.

Enjoy!