Gregg’s Italian Chicken with Orzo!

I was looking for something new to try in the kitchen, and lo and behold, my friend Gregg sent me a recipe that he thought I would like. Taking the list of ingredients, I headed off to the grocery store. I made this for dinner last night and received rave reviews and was told that the recipe was a “do again.” So come on into my kitchen so I can share with you Gregg’s Italian Chicken with Orzo! Here is a preview:

Preview!

Ingredients
6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into bite size pieces
6 oz. baby bella mushrooms, sliced
1 tomato, peeled and cut into chunks
1 can artichoke hearts, drained and quartered
6 cloves of garlic, minced
1 small white onion, chopped finely
1 tsp lemon pepper
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 lemon, juiced
1/2 cup Sherry
2 TBS butter
Orzo pasta
1/3 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded
6 fresh basil leaves, sliced

Gratuitous shot of the ingredients

Gather all of your ingredients and prepare as noted above. In a large saute pan, heat the olive oil. When hot, add the chicken, the lemon pepper, garlic and onion powders. Cook until the chicken is just done.

Chicken and spices cooking in olive oil

Remove it from the pan and set aside. Add to the pan, the mushrooms, tomato, artichoke hearts, onion and garlic. Cook over medium heat until the onion becomes transparent.

Artichokes, mushrooms, onion and tomatoes added to the pan

Add the lemon juice, Sherry and butter.

Add in the lemon juice and sherry

Stir to combine and simmer for 15 minutes. While this is cooking prepare your Orzo. I used a little over a half a box following the cooking directions as noted. Drain the pasta when done. By this time, the vegetable mixture should be done. Add back the chicken, add the orzo and cook until hot. Then add in the cheese, stirring to melt the cheese. Remove from the heat. Serve this up in a pasta bowl, and top with the shredded basil.

Dinner is served!

Dinner is served!

Now I did make a change to this recipe. Gregg uses 3 oz. of sun dried tomatoes. I am not really fond of them so I used fresh tomato instead.

This dish was very yummy and my house smelled just like an Italian Kitchen! Let me know if you try this wonderful recipe and how you liked it and I will pass the word on to Gregg!