Spiced caramelized fennel orzo with feta, mint, lemon and crispy harissa chickpeas

When it comes to food people tend to see things very black and white. You’re a pineapple on pizza person, OR YOU ARE NOT. You like pickles, OR YOU HATE THEM. These preferences are vocalized religiously, and fraternizing with the enemy is under no circumstance tolerated. Well I have a confession to make. I did fraternize with the enemy. Though be it unknowingly..

It has come to my attention that my boyfriend is someone who falls in the risotto hating category. I have grown up on what he dismissively calls “hot wet rice”, and crave it especially in the cold wintery months. “But it’s April” you might think, “that’s not winter” you might say. The 5cm of snow we got in NL this week says otherwise. There I was, craving a warm bowl of risotto I knew would not be appreciated by my dinner company, when I came up with the perfect solution. A risotto incognito.

Ingredients #

Ingredients for 2:

• 50gr butter
• 2 fennel bulbs
• 1 teaspoon of cumin seeds
• 1 teaspoon of fennel seeds
• 1 teaspoon of ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon of turmeric
• ¼ teaspoon of cinnamon
• 3 garlic cloves
• 2 red chilis (or one if you don’t like ze burn)
• 200gr orzo (this is sometimes called Riso, or Risoni)
• 150ml white wine
• 600ml water
• 200gr feta (yes that’s quite a lot of cheese, I will take no questions at this point)
• 200gr chickpeas
• 1 tablespoon of harissa
• 1 lemon
• A handful of mint leaves
• Black pepper
• Salt

Method #

1. Put a large skillet over medium heat and melt the butter. Once it stopped foaming add the cumin seeds, fennel seeds, coriander, turmeric and cinnamon and fry the spices a few minutes, or until super-duper fragrant.

2. Thinly slice the fennel bulbs and add the slices to your spiced butter and season them with salt. Turn the heat down to medium low and slowly caramelize the fennel. This will take TIME. Probably around 30-45 minutes. By the end of the caramelization process the fennel will look almost like caramelized onions, golden brown and jammy.

3. While things are caramelizing in the skillet, finely chop the garlic and chili, and cut your feta in small pieces. If you’re very hungry you are definitely allowed to snack on the feta, that has been taken into account when listing the measurements.

4. Then, preheat your oven to 200 degrees Celsius. Put your chickpeas on a baking tray and coat them in harissa, a little olive oil and a generous pinch of salt. Once your oven is warm, put the chickpeas in and bake them until crispy, about 20 minutes (keep an eye on them though, ovens are temperamental).

5. As soon as the fennel looks beautiful and caramelized add the garlic and chili to the skillet. Fry this together on medium heat for a minute or two, before adding the orzo to the skillet. When the orzo becomes slightly translucent, deglaze the skillet with the wine and add half of the water. While stirring every now and then keep adding the rest of the water until the orzo is cooked through. This will take about 15 minutes, but is best measured by tasting for doneness - lucky you!

6. In the meantime, using a vegetable peeler peel ribbons of lemon zest and slice them very finely into super duper skinny matches. Lemon peel is very fragrant so having a thick slice of it will not be a pleasant experience. Roughly chop your mint and we’re almost there!

7. When the orzo is done cooking, take it off the heat and stir through the feta, as well as the juice of half the lemon. Taste to see if it needs any seasoning, decide that it does, and add a generous pinch of salt and a few grinds of black pepper. Take the crissspy chickpeas out of the oven and get a plate ready.

8. Plate the orzo, top it with mint and lemon peel and scatter the crispy chickpeas over it. I drizzled some olive oil on top, which is a personal tradition with literally anything I put in my mouth, so feel free to omit if you think having butter in the dish is “enough fat”.

This recipe is for everyone who finds themselves trapped in a risottoless environment. Its masking middle eastern flavor profile will fool even the most ferocious of haters. And while it’s definitely not risotto (wink wink) it will certainly cure those cravings.