Papadini Orzo

The other night I made Papadini Orzo Pasta with Tofu and it was wonderful. This was a new one for me which I found in the health food store. It's Papadini's Hi-Protein Pure Lentil Bean Pasta Orzo and it's gluten free and wheat free. The recipe was actually on the back and is made with the orzo, tofu, ginger, onion, etc.

Papadini's orzo was easy to make requiring rapidly boiling water, 1 tbsp. canola oil, and frequent stirring for 5-6 minutes. The package does caution against over cooking- which I was careful not to do.

I drained the orzo, rinsed then drained again according to the instructions and was ready to go. The orzo cooked up in lovely almond shapes and had a pasta/rice texture. It's somewhere in between- sort of chewy like pasta but firmer like rice. It really had a pleasant, mildly nutty flavor. Best of all the orzo is very high in protein and is a good source of iron, folic acid and soluble fiber. I also liked that it is made solely with lentil flour, salt and baking soda.

This particular recipe required sauteing the vegetables first, then adding the orzo and combining. I was really impressed with how well it came out. We had ours hot, but I imagine this would make a wonderful cold salad that would easily replace gluten pasta any day. Papadini's orzo is also low in fat, sugars and sodium.

Papadini's Orzo is a definite winner!

Ingredients:
Lentil flour, salt, baking soda

Nutrition Facts:
Serving Size: 2 oz (56.7 g)
Servings per container: 4
Calories: 190
Fat cal.: 10
Total fat: 1.0 g
Sat fat: 0 g
Cholesterol: 0 mg
Sodium: 94 mg
Total carb: 33 g
Dietary fiber: 5 g
Sugars: 1 g
Protein: 13 g

Allergy Information:
Processed in a facility which may use wheat, corn, soy & eggs.