This 1-pot baked fish with lemon and orzo recipe captures the flavors of the Greek kitchen in a straightforward dish that’s worthy of an entry in your weeknight rotation. Orzo, which is a rice-shaped pasta, is cooked in a Dutch oven together with agency, meaty white fish and seasoned with lemon, feta, oregano, and parsley. Orzo is the proper mild-mannered base for intense flavors like briny Kalamata olives, zesty lemon, and salty feta. The cod is cooked until tender and flaky because it absorbs the intense, balanced flavors of the broth. One of the best a part of this meal is that you just prep it multi functional pot and let the oven do the cooking.

In response to Ksenia Prints, the meals blogger behind Thermocookery, there’s one thing so comforting about 1-pot meals. Not solely do all of the flavors meld collectively completely, however the act of creating the dish is a testomony to the cooking traditions of our dad and mom and grandparents and plenty of earlier than them: throw the whole lot in a single bowl and hope for the perfect. On this creamy, vibrant, and satisfying recipe, the perfect is superb certainly. 

To make this simple one-pot dish, you may want olive oil for sauteing, garlic cloves, dried oregano, low-sodium hen or vegetable broth, contemporary lemon juice from about 1-2 lemons, Kalamata olives, and orzo, together with salt and black pepper for flavoring. For the fish, we used cod fillets, although you may as well use halibut or haddock. To finish the garnish and add some freshness, we’ll want lemon, contemporary parsley, and crumbled feta.

Preheat the oven to 375 F.

Warmth the olive oil to a big oven-safe skillet or Dutch oven over medium warmth.

Add the garlic and oregano and cook dinner for 1 minute.

Stir within the orzo, then add the broth, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. Deliver to a simmer.

Place the fish fillets over the orzo, cowl with lemon slices, and season with extra salt and pepper.

Cowl with a lid or tinfoil and bake for 20 minutes till the orzo is tender and the fish flakes.

Take away the lid and bake for an extra 10 minutes.

Take away from the oven and sprinkle with parsley and feta.

This recipe was developed across the thought of cooking a agency, mild-flavored white fish in the identical broth (and pot) as its starchy accompaniment. We went with cod, which does very well in Mediterranean preparations, however we all know that not everybody loves its sweeter style.

In case you favor one other fish, we strongly advocate haddock or halibut. Their delicate taste will go very well with the intense, citrusy, and herbaceous Greek-inspired seasonings of this recipe. Like cod, in addition they have a flaky texture that may cook dinner evenly alongside the orzo, and which is able to flake properly if you go into the dish with a fork. 

Haddock will stay a bit firmer than cod and has a stronger taste, although it may be more durable to supply contemporary. Halibut, the meatiest of the three, has a wealthy, nearly buttery style, and could be the prime alternative — however it may be costlier than the opposite two.

If you wish to add a distinct spin to this recipe, the excellent news is that nothing could possibly be simpler. You possibly can simply swap the orzo with a distinct small form of pasta or one other grain, although chances are you’ll want to regulate the cooking time. The pure substitution for orzo by way of dimension and form is white rice. Lengthy-grain white rice could be the closest, although starchy short-grain rice would make the dish even creamier. Simply be sure to style the dish after the indicated cooking time, as chances are you’ll want one other 10 minutes to complete cooking the rice. Farro is an alternative choice, which might add a firmer texture in addition to its nice nutty taste.

In line with the Greek inspiration of this recipe, yellow peeled potatoes would make for an additional nice choice. Go for waxy varieties like Yukon Gold and even fingerling potatoes, which is able to maintain their form nicely and absorb the flavors. If you wish to go together with potatoes, you possibly can amp up the lemon flavors by including the juice of one other half a lemon to make the dish harking back to Greek lemon potatoes.