AIP mushroom risotto built on cassava orzo, bacon and two kinds of mushroom

Cassava orzo does not behave exactly like pasta, and the box will tell you the real cook time for your particular brand, so read it before you start rather than guessing. Everything else about this dish moves fast, chopped onion and garlic, bacon rendering in the same pan, 2 kinds of mushroom going dark and savory. 15 minutes at the stove and you have something that eats like risotto.

B vitamins support the cellular energy production that a body doing the hard work of healing leans on especially hard, and shiitake and button mushrooms are a good source once they are cooked down slowly until deeply golden, which is also what draws out the most flavor. Rushing this step costs you on both fronts.

The bacon in this pan is doing real work too. Its salt, smoke, and rendered fat make up most of the savoriness here, so use all of it and scrape the pan clean when you fold the orzo in. Nothing here should be wasted, the mushrooms, the fat, any of it.

Ingredients

• 8 oz box cassava AIP orzo (use the cassava orzo, not chickpea risoni, which is a legume and excluded on elimination)
• 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 to 3 large cloves garlic, minced
• 5 slices bacon, chopped (choose a clean-label, sugar-free, additive-free bacon)
• 5 oz white button mushrooms, sliced
• 3 oz shiitake mushrooms, sliced
• 3/4 to 1 cup hot chicken broth
• sea salt to taste

Method

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil and cook the cassava orzo according to the package directions until just tender, then drain and set it aside. Cooking time varies by brand, so follow the box.

While the orzo cooks, warm the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the chopped onion and cook until soft and translucent. Stir in the minced garlic and let it cook for a minute until fragrant, taking care not to brown it.

Add the chopped bacon and cook until it begins to crisp and renders its fat. Add the button and shiitake mushrooms and cook them down, stirring now and then, until they release their liquid, that liquid cooks off, and the mushrooms turn golden and deeply savory. This is where the flavor lives, so give it the time.

Fold the drained orzo into the pan with the mushrooms and bacon. Pour in the hot chicken broth a little at a time, stirring, until the dish loosens into a creamy, risotto-like texture. Add as much or as little broth as you like for the consistency you want. Taste and add sea salt as needed, then serve warm.

*Adapted from healingfamilyeats.com*