If you don’t like salmon: this would be lovely with chicken or prawns. I’ve made a version of this before with chicken meatballs too, which was delicious. You could also make these pork meatballs to go with - find the recipe here. How much stock do I need? Like I mentioned, it’s hard to give an exact amount as it does depend on your pan size, type of orzo, heat etc. I find 600ml is a good place to start for 150g orzo but just simmer that, and if you find it’s absorbing well but the orzo is still hard (taste a grain to check), add a splash more water or stock and stir. Don’t sweat it! It’s quite forgiving and just taste as you go to see when it’s cooked. Add some greens! I love this with a couple of big handfuls of spinach wilted down in the sauce. Frozen spinach is a staple in my house and you just chuck the cubes in frozen and let them defrost as it cooks. Also great served with some steamed tenderstem broccoli or green beans.

Make it spicy: add ½ to 1 tsp chilli flakes when seasoning the salmon. You could also add a sprinkle of chilli flakes when you melt the butter before adding the orzo. A drizzle of chilli crisp at the end never goes amiss either.

Add-ins: Add a handful of chopped sun-dried tomatoes at the end and stir through for little bursts of sweetness. You could maybe add some chopped roasted red peppers or even marinated artichokes from a jar. Then add the cream and continue as normal. If you love garlic, two cloves of minced garlic, when melting the butter, would add a nice note. Boursin or cream cheese stirred through at the end would be indulgent and delicious and I would support this entirely.

Herbs: this would also be delicious with basil or chives.

A note on double cream: Any dairy product works here. If you have creme fraiche, mascarpone, single cream or even cream cheese open, a good dollop/pour of that will work in the same way. It just adds a nice bit of thickness and body to the orzo. You could also leave it altogether if you would rather and then just be extra generous on the grating of parmesan at the end.

How to double the recipe: double the orzo but start with about 1L of stock. Simmer it and see how it absorbs and then add more stock as needed. It’s one of those recipes where I wouldn’t directly double as you might find yourself with lots of extra stock floating in the pan. I would also use a deeper and/or larger pan for four people as you want to be able to get a good stir going without sloshing it all over the place (which is inevitably what happens to me when I don’t listen to my own advice and choose a pan too small).

How to get your children to eat it too: Just make sure the spices are mild on the salmon and this always goes down a treat with mine.

Make it vegetarian: This recipe is pescetarian (just check your parmesan as sometimes they are not veggie friendly) but if you want to make it fully veggie, it would be great by itself without the salmon. I would just fry off some veggies in the pan first until nice and caramelised (like you would salmon). I would do maybe courgettes, tenderstem broccoli, and maybe even some peas! Then remove from the pan and then I would fry onion and garlic as the base, for some more flavour. Then add butter and the orzo as written. You could add a jar of beans (white beans would be good) for a bump of protein too.

What to do with leftovers: You can simply just pop in an airtight container and place in the fridge for a few days. The orzo keeps fairly well but I would eat the salmon on the night you cook as it’s best fresh and a little crispy still. If the orzo turns a little stodgy in the fridge overnight, add to a pan with a splash of stock or water and reheat on medium until bubbling. This will loosen nicely this way. You could also use the microwave but then it’s harder to add stock if you want to thin it out a little.