Are you looking for a warming soup for a cold day to start your dinner when you come home tired from work? It was what I was craving for when it started freezing outside a few days ago. I was planning to make my regular tarhana soup but something changed this plan. We were at the market with my husband doing shopping. When I was picking some packages of pasta, he grabbed a small package of orzo and with a great excitement said that he wanted to make a delicious orzo soup. Well, I am always in love with all kinds of warming soup, so there couldn’t be a better offer. Besides, he is not much like a soup person, so I was surprised too! And I couldn’t wait for the result!
Orzo soup is mom’s favorite just like many other moms and she makes it quite often, and unfortunately I was bored of this soup as a child. That’s why I hardly ever make it and I was about to forget it completely. I might not even be sharing the recipe with you if it hadn’t been for my husband’s idea at the market, so I’d like to thank him here. No need to mention the result, it was superb! I loved the feeling of going back to my childhood with its tempting smell my first sip . Actually, orzo soup is one of the most common soups in our cuisine as it’s easy and it doesn’t demand for many ingredients. Follow the recipe and make it as soon as possible if winter is just on the corner there!
Orzo Soup
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 4
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- ½ tbsp pepper paste
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 tsp dried mint
- ½ tsp red pepper flakes
- 1 tomato, grated
- 5 cup water
- 1 cup chicken or beef stock, optional
- 1/3 cup orzo
- salt to taste
- 2 sprigs of parsley
Instructions
- Heat olive oil and add pepper paste and tomato paste, stir. If it’s thick, add little water to dissolve it and continue stirring.
- Sprinkle dried mint and red pepper flakes into it and stir until they combine well.
- Pour 2 cups of water and 1 cup chicken or beef stock, keep stirring over medium heat.
- Add grated tomatoes and stir for some minutes.
- Pour the rest of the water (3cups) and bring it to boil.
- You can add orzo when it boils and cook until they are soft.
- Now add salt and toss in parsley sprigs as they are, do not chop them. Boil the soup for some more minutes over low heat to let it absorb the parsley flavor. Take the parsley out before serving.
- Serve it hot with a lemon wedge. Squeeze lemon into your bowl and enjoy your soup!
This sounds so lovely and comforting! Orzo is my favorite pasta to add to soups~
This looks so good. I don’t believe I’ve ever had orzo. I’ll have to look for it and give it a try!
When I was a kid my grandma used to add lots of pasta to soups. Later I didn’t want any soup that had pasta. Now, that I’m a mother I add past to my daughter’s soup. Her favorite pasta shapes are orzo and the little wheels.
Hepimiz bu harika çorba ile büyüdük. Hala en sevdiğim çorbadır. Özellikle de taze domates ve bol maydanoz ile. Çok lezzetli görünüyor, ellerine sağlık Zerrin’ciğim.
Orzo soup. Sounds just about perfect with the changing weather. Thanks again for sharing with me. You know how to make me smile. I hope you have a blessed weekend!
this soup looked so delicious and easy ..but when i made it it was not very tomotoey. are you sure the measurements are ok for an american kicthen..it was very watery..please help..how long did you fry the tomotoe paste in the oil at first?
You can fry tomato paste just a few minutes before adding water. This is how hubby makes it, but you can change the measurement. If yours is watery, then you can decrease the amount of water or increase the amount of orzo.
thank you..i will try again.. in the picture here it looks so tomato red so i thought the measurements were off..but I shall try again adding more paste or decreasing water and using more broth for flavor..i also didnt add the fresh tomato and that might help..thanks again..and love your blog!
Question, why grating a tomato vs finely chopping it? Grating is SO messy and I would imagine dangerous. Thank you for the answer.
You can chop the tomato finely too, the taste won’t change. I just find grating easier than chopping finely.
What is pepper paste and how do u grate ur tomato….is it with the skin on, do u use Romans or large tomatoes? Sorry, I just have never heard of grating tomatoes before….I must be hanging with the wrong crowd !! 😉
Oops, that was suppose to be Roma tomatoes.
Tomato paste is a special Turkish ingredient. Red bell peppers are pureed and waited under sun for about a week or more. You might find it at Middle East markets.
I peel just a small part of it and start grating from there. It’s atomatically peeled as you grate and leave the skin out. As for the type of tomatoes, use the one with a strong red color as we want our soup to be reddish.
what is pepper paste and where can I get it?
It is something like tomato paste, just darker and thicker than it. Maybe you can find it at middle east markets. Use tomato paste or pureed tomato instead if you can’t find.
Made this today was great will make it again!!
Thank you Stephanie! Great to hear that this is a helpful recipe for you. One of our favorite soups in fall and winter.