# Everything You Need to Know About Miso, Harissa and One Pan of Orzo

Our first Oddy Dinner Recipe puts a Japanese paste, a North African chilli and an Italian pasta in one pan, and it is on the table in 30 minutes.

By Sven Torkelsson · 2026-11-03 · Fun · Port Vesper

## Miso-Harissa Chicken Orzo

4 servings · 30 min · easy

### Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 600 g boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into 3 cm pieces
- 2 tbsp harissa paste
- 1 tbsp white miso paste
- 300 g dried orzo
- 800 ml hot low-salt chicken stock
- 1 lemon, zest finely grated, then cut into wedges
- 100 g baby spinach

### Method
1. Heat the olive oil in a deep, wide pan with a lid over medium-high heat for 1 minute.
2. Add the chicken in a single layer and cook, turning once, until golden in patches, about 5 minutes.
3. Stir in the harissa and miso and cook for 1 minute, until the paste darkens and smells toasted.
4. Add the orzo and stir for 1 minute, until every grain is coated in red.
5. Pour in the hot stock and scrape the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon.
6. Bring to a boil, then turn the heat to medium-low and simmer uncovered, stirring every 2 minutes, for 10 to 11 minutes, until the orzo is tender and the sauce is thick and creamy.
7. Cut open the largest piece of chicken to check that it is white all the way through, with no pink.
8. Stir in the spinach and the lemon zest and cook for 1 minute, until the leaves have wilted.
9. Take the pan off the heat, rest it for 2 minutes and serve with the lemon wedges for squeezing.

Tip: Harissa varies a lot in heat. Start with 1 tbsp if yours is fierce, and swap the spinach for chopped chard or kale (add it 2 minutes earlier). Low-salt stock matters because miso is already salty.

The fog has come up from the harbour again, and the kitchen window has gone soft at the edges. You are hungry, it is a Tuesday, and you want something that tastes like you tried. So here is a strange little marriage. White miso brings the deep, salty quiet. Harissa brings the red warmth. Orzo sits between them and drinks it all in, until the pan turns glossy and almost creamy without a drop of cream.

This is for the weeknight cook with one wide pan and no patience for a second one. It is for the evening when you want the smell of toasted chilli to reach the stairwell and make the neighbours wonder. Stir it slowly. Listen to it simmer. Eat it from a deep bowl with a lemon wedge nearby.

Source: https://oddy.one/a/2026-11-03-everything-you-need-to-know-about-miso-harissa-and-one-pan-of-orzo/