Creamy blue cheese orzo with smoked sausage

It’s been ages since my last post, but now I’m back with a new recipe!

Yesterday I went to a local shop to buy some onions, so I bought a pack of delicious looking sausages to give them a try (don’t worry if it doesn’t make sense… I stopped wondering about my shopping habits myself). It turns out I bought some Zwyczayna polish sausages with pork, beef and venison. I have no clue how to pronounce that word, but at least I can cook them! 😀

I decided to make a play on the traditional Greek/Cypriot Kritharaki, which is orzo pasta cooked in a tomato sauce, typically with some meat and finished with some grated hard cheese.  What I love about Kritharaki is that it is a one pot wonder, it takes about 30 mins to prepare and you can easily make a big batch for the next day or for guests. In this recipe I used the polish sausage as the meat part and finished it off with some Stilton, which I think complements the smokiness of the sausage very well. Of course, I threw in a few spices to pump up the flavours! The following recipe probably serves 4 people.

Kritharaki with Zwyczayna and Stilton

Ingredients

• 2 Carrots (cut in half-moon slices)
• 2 Zwyczayna sausages (cut in half moon slices)
• 60g Stilton
• 1 medium white onion (finely chopped)
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• 1/4 tsp chilli powder
• 400g tinned chopped tomatoes
• 1 1/2 cups orzo
• 2 1/2 cups chicken stock
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• salt, pepper

Execution

1. Put the sausage in a pot and turn the heat on to medium.
2. As soon as the sausage starts getting some colour, add the onions, the bay leaf and a pinch of salt.
3. When the onions start getting translucent add the carrots, garlic tomato paste, black pepper and paprika.
4. Cook for 2-3 minutes and add the chopped tomatoes.
5. Cook for another 2-3 minutes and add the orzo.
6. Stir around for about a minute and add the chicken stock. You might think that there’s a lot of stock, but trust me, it’s fine! 😀
7. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat as low as it goes and partly cover. Stir every 5 minutes so that the pasta doesn’t catch on the bottom of the pan.
8. When you get a creamy risotto consistency (about 15 minutes), turn the heat off, throw away the bay leaf, taste and adjust the seasoning (salt/pepper).
9. Crumble in the Stilton and stir until mostly melted.
10. Serve and enjoy!!

Tips:

• Cheeses usually go in foods at the very end. This is for two reasons: First, the last ingredients that go in the dish are usually the ones you taste first (you don’t want the cheese to disappear). Second, if you overheat cheese it will split (the fat separates from the proteins -> you loose the creaminess you would normally get).
• Kritharaki tastes better the next day. When you get it out of the fridge it will be a solid block. to loosen it up put it in a pot, add a splash of water and stir occasionally on a medium-low heat.