Description
Tender chicken, pillowy orzo, roasted sweet taters, lots of spinach and flavorful Boursin cheese- this Boursin orzo bake has your dinner query SOLVED!
Ingredients
Units
Scale
- 1lb boneless, skinless chicken breast, cubed
- 1 large sweet potato, cubed in 1/2-inch chunks
- 6 whole cloves garlic, root ends trimmed
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
- 1 5.2oz round Boursin cheese
- 1 1/4 cup orzo, uncooked
- 1 1/2 cup starchy pasta water
- 3 cups spinach, chopped
- 1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Grease a 9×13 or 10×15 casserole dish. Trim the root end of the garlic cloves off but leave the peel on. If you take the clove out the peel it will dry out. Trimming the root end allows you to easily squeeze out the garlic after it has been roasted.
- Place the sweet potato cubes and garlic cloves in the prepared dish and drizzle with 1 ½ tablespoons olive oil, ½ teaspoon each salt and pepper and 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning, using your hands to toss until everything is well coated. Roast for 20 minutes.
- While you’re giving the sweet potatoes and garlic a head start, prepare the chicken. Cube the chicken, pat it dry with a paper towel and season with remaining ½ teaspoon each salt and pepper and teaspoon of Italian seasoning. At this time, you can also bring a large pot of well-salted water to a boil.
- Remove the casserole dish from the oven, and scooch the sweet potatoes and garlic over to make room for the cheese and chicken. Place Boursin cheese in the center of the baking dish and add the cubed chicken. Drizzle everything with the remaining 1½ tablespoons olive oil and return the casserole dish to the oven for 15 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through and everything is slightly golden brown.
- While everything finishes roasting, start the orzo. Add orzo to the boiling water and cook according to the package instructions, usually around 9-11 minutes, until al dente. Using a liquid measuring cup, save at least 1 ½ cups of starchy pasta water during the final minute of cook time.
- Drain the orzo. Take chicken, Boursin and veggies from the oven. Squeeze the garlic cloves from their peels and use a fork to smash the roasted garlic into a paste. Add the cooked orzo and chopped spinach straight to the dish. Drizzle half of the reserved pasta water over everything and then toss to combine. Continue to add splashes of pasta water until everything is combined and your desired consistency is reached, I used about 1 ¼ cups total. The goal is a light, creamy, cheesy sauce that coats everything. Sprinkle everything with the parmesan cheese. Optional but recommended, is to pop the orzo bake back into the oven on broil for 2-3 minutes to melt the Parmesan and develop a final bit of color.
- Serve hot with a sprinkle of fresh thyme or basil. OOF. Creamy, cozy and oh, so yum!
Notes
Refer to above blog post for tips, step by step photos and answers to frequently asked questions.
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Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/4 recipe
- Calories: 572
- Sugar: 2.9 g
- Sodium: 715.3 mg
- Fat: 27.7 g
- Carbohydrates: 35.9 g
- Fiber: 3.3 g
- Protein: 42.9 g
- Cholesterol: 118 mg