Lemon-Forward Orzo Salad
Orzo dressed warm so it drinks the lemon, then cucumber, olives, tomato and feta. It keeps absorbing dressing, so it wants refreshing before it goes out.
- Serves
- 6
- Total
- 1h
Dressed warm, like the potato salad and for the same reason: warm pasta absorbs a vinaigrette, cold pasta wears it. A third of the dressing goes on straight out of the colander, and don't rinse the orzo or nothing will stick.
The other thing to know is that it keeps drinking. An hour later it's drier than it was, and overnight it's noticeably flat. That's not a fault, it's just how orzo behaves, and the fix is to hold back some vinaigrette and add it at the table.
Salt matters more than usual here. A lot of acid tastes sharp when it's underseasoned and bright when it isn't, and people reach for more lemon when what it actually wants is salt.
If it's not right
- Sharp rather than bright: underseasoned. Salt before more oil.
- Dry: it drank the dressing. That's normal, add more.
- Mushy: orzo cooked past al dente, and it softens further as it sits.
- Bland after a night in the fridge: lemon, oil, salt, in that order.
Ingredients
Method
-
Boil the orzo in well-salted water until al dente, 8 to 9 minutes.
-
Whisk the lemon juice, zest, garlic, oregano, salt and pepper, then whisk in the olive oil slowly.
-
Drain the orzo and don't rinse it. Toss it warm with about a third of the vinaigrette and leave it 10 minutes to absorb.
-
Add the cucumber, tomatoes, olives and most of the remaining vinaigrette.
-
Fold in the feta and parsley. Taste, and adjust the salt.
-
Refrigerate at least 30 minutes. Before it goes out, add the last of the vinaigrette and squeeze lemon wedges over the top.
Goes with
- Also good with
- A salad has a job, The vinegars, and when to use which
- A cousin of
- Fresh Pasta, Eggs and Flour, Cacio e Pepe, Aglio e Olio, Simple Tomato Sauce
From the journal
- Italian Is the Other One — Fish is one of the foods people order rather than make. Pasta is the other, and it's the stranger case, because it's flour and eggs.
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