Basmati rice & orzo from Jerusalem (page 103) by Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi

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Accompaniments: Stuffed aubergine with lamb & pine nuts; Beef meatballs with broad beans & lemon

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Notes about this recipe

  • michelle_yn1fi9 on May 04, 2026

    This recipe is a low effort good flavor recipe. It made a great side dish for the pork chops. It’ll work as a side dish for many proteins, so it’s a keeper.

  • alysekstokes on August 15, 2025

    A lovely twist on the classic Levantine vermicelli rice. This is a go-to in my house, and my copy of Jerusalem naturally opens to this page now!

  • Nossovitzky on June 28, 2024

    I make this all the time as a simple tasty side, especially to lamb.

  • tsp on September 26, 2023

    I’ve used a vegetable stock and it turned out delicious. I’ve never eaten orzo before and it was a pleasant discovery. I’ve used a generous spoon of butter. The water almost evaporated after 10 minutes but the rice was almost cooked by that time. I left it covered for 10 minutes after. Loved the taste.

  • Ganga108 on February 27, 2022

    Orzo pasta is petty good, don’t you agree? This little rice-shaped pasta has an elegance that eludes other pastas. I was delighted to find another way to cook this little star in this classic Middle Eastern dish. Delicious! Note that it is a side dish and not strongly flavoured.

  • bernalgirl on February 24, 2022

    After a 30-minute soak and following the recipe, the rice came out beautifully fluffy but very very bland. I added thyme, ground bay leaves, and Aleppo pepper along with a flavorful homemade stock to no avail. I’d consider making this again but would add more spices: cloves, cinnamon, cardamom pods and a bay leaf, or perhaps more time and oregano snd that bay k on aef. I’d also increase the salt.

  • Rutabaga on October 25, 2016

    Since my rice was done well before the rest of the meal, it sat in the covered pot off the heat for at least 15 minutes, which allowed it to continue slowly steaming. Otherwise, I think it would have likely been a little underdone and wet. It's a really nice basic recipe that goes well with a variety of cuisine, and adding the orzo is hardly more work than just cooking the rice.

  • Silverscreensuppers on August 09, 2016

    Love this way of fancying-up basmati rice a bit. Turned out perfectly.

  • ellabee on January 25, 2016

    Two posters in 2013 COTM thread had same experience w/underdone rice; solution was to increase chicken stock by 1/4 cup.

  • Jane on January 14, 2013

    This was a very simple but satisfying side. It made a big difference in the cooking time of the rice to soak it for 30 minutes first. The addition of toasted orzo made the rice more interesting and didn't add much time to the cooking process.

  • Delys77 on January 02, 2013

    Pg. 103 Once again, sometimes the simplest things are the best. I modified the recipe a little to take advantage of the rice cooker but I think the results were in line with what the recipe envisi0ned. Essentially I cooked the rice in the rice cooker in stock and then I took the orzo and toasted it in the fat, which I then added about 3/4 cup of broth to and simmered (hard simmer) for about 8 minutes till they were tender and most of the broth had evaporated. I then tossed the rice in and added a little bit more butter since the rice hadn't cooked with any butter, along with a pinch of salt. The result is a very nice rice with interesting texture and flavour from the nutty orzo. A small difference yes, but a very welcome one. Great basic recipe that would serve as a more interesting foil to many saucy dishes calling for a bed of rice.

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