Chicken Fricassée with Orzo

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5 from 1 vote

This is a great easy recipe for entertaining and has your starch, veggies and protein in each serving.

Prep Time10

Cook Time20

Total Time30

Course: Main Dish

Cuisine: American

Servings: servings

Calories: 594kcal

Author: Carolyn Hetke

Ingredients

Chicken

4 4oz skinless, boneless chicken breasts
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
2 tsps butter

Sauce

¾ cup green onion chopped
½ cup carrot finely diced
½ cup cooked ham diced
2 cloves garlic minced
1 cup chicken broth
½ cup Chardonnay or dry white wine
½ tsp salt
½ teaspoon pepper
⅓ cup whipping cream
1 ½ cups orzo pasta
¼ cup fresh parsley minced

Instructions

Cook orzo according to package instructions. This usually means bringing a big pot of salted water to a boil. When water is boiling add orzo and cook about 9 minutes. Drain when done. Do not rinse.
While the orzo water is coming to a boil prepare the chicken. Season chicken breasts with salt and pepper. Melt butter in large skillet. (Skillet will eventually hold the chicken and the sauce). Add chicken and brown about 3 minutes on each side. Remove chicken from pan.
Add onion, carrot, ham and garlic to saucepan. Sauté about 4 minutes over med/high heat. Stir in wine and then broth, scraping up browned bits from bottom of the pan.
Return chicken to the pan, bring to a boil. Cover and simmer about 10 minutes. Remove chicken from pan again and cover to keep warm. Add the whipping cream and cook uncovered about 8 minutes. Add the chicken breasts back in about 3 minutes before the end.
Spoon ¾ cup of orzo onto each serving plate. Top with a chicken breast and spoon ¼ of the sauce over each plate. Garnish with parsely.

Notes

To Make Ahead:

When making ahead the pasta will absorb a lot of the sauce so I double the sauce liquid ingredients. I prepare the entire recipe but to assemble I cover the bottom of a deep baking dish with the orzo after it has cooled. Position the cooked chicken breasts evenly around the orzo. Then pour ½ the sauce over the dish, cover tightly and freeze. Freeze the other half of the sauce separately. When it is time to serve bake the frozen dish covered with foil for about 1 hour at 350 degrees. Heat the extra sauce separately and pour it over the plate at the point of serving. By doubling the sauce, the first half keeps the orzo and chicken moist and the second half, heated separately makes the final sauce.

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