Ree Drummond's Time-Saving Trick For Risotto Fans

There are few items that are easier to cook than rice. Most of the time, the right way to cook rice is to pour some into a pot of boiling water, let it sit until it's done, then bask in the praise of the people eating it. Nothing short of tossing a burrito in the microwave could be simpler. However, there are ways of making rice that require a little more work. Risotto is one of these ways.

Risotto is a basic, creamy dish that can be made any night of the week, though sometimes the labor involved can throw people off. Instead of tossing rice into a pot and letting it sit to heat and soften, most risotto recipes involve slaving over a hot stove, stirring the rice as you gradually add water or broth, and letting it absorb. It can be as tiresome as whipping cream without an electric mixer. Which means whenever you can find a way to make it that saves time, it's often worth the trouble.

Ree Drummond of "The Pioneer Woman" fame has concocted a recipe that combines all the creamy succulence of risotto but uses pasta in lieu of rice. This makes it cook a little quicker, but still provides the same basic end result, which is to say a starchy treat for the tongue.

In a quick video snippet Ree Drummond posted to Twitter, she makes a dish dubbed "orzotto." This is risotto made using orzo, rather than rice. "Orzotto is an amazing dish," says The Pioneer Woman. "You cook it for a little while with some aromatics, start adding broth ... and the whole finished product is creamy and dreamy."

Orzo and rice are so similar in appearance that orzo could easily tie rice up in a basement and then take its tiny, oblong carbohydrate beauty pageant crown. The two even cook similarly, requiring naught but a bit of water and a skosh of heat to turn from hard little bits into scrumptiousness ready for the table. Though they look alike, orzo is a form of pasta. According to Southern Living, this means that flour is what orzo is actually made of, whereas rice is harvested. Orzo is also softer and creamier than rice, making it ideal for a dish like risotto where soft and creamy is the goal.

Drummond's video is only a scant four minutes long, yet by the end – with a little time-lapse of stirring – she has a cheesy dish loaded with vegetables that just begs to be consumed on a cold winter's night.