Make this summer orzo salad and vinaigrette for your next summertime gathering

The Abridged version:

• Zoe Barrie’s summer orzo salad with brown butter vinaigrette complements any summertime hangout.
• The salad recipe calls for in-season cherry tomatoes, corn and orzo pasta.
• Make the brown butter vinaigrette with sherry vinegar, honey and Dijon mustard.

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This is Cooking in Season, a biweekly series from local recipe developer Zoe Barrie using seasonal produce available at Sacramento-area farmers markets. 

Nothing quite encapsulates summer like sweet corn and tomatoes — they require very little cooking and can be enjoyed with just about everything.

The same can be said for pasta salad. It’s the kind of side dish that can round out a backyard barbecue, weeknight dinner, Fourth of July celebrations and everything in between.

This recipe brings the two together, keeping the flavors simple yet elevated with a brown butter vinaigrette. Fortunately, there’s not much to do when in-season tomatoes, sweet corn and basil already bring so much flavor on their own.

As a kid, I was devoted to a classic bowl of buttered noodles. Consider this pasta salad the grown-up, summer barbecue-friendly version of that childhood classic.

Summer orzo salad with brown butter vinaigrette

Yield: 4 to 6 servings

Time: 30 minutes

This pasta salad is dressed while the orzo is still slightly warm, so it can better absorb the vinaigrette. For optimal flavor, chill for at least 15 minutes before serving. While delicious on its own, it also pairs well with grilled meat or beans for a complete meal.

Ingredients

Summer orzo salad

1 cup orzo pasta

2 corn ears, shucked, kernels removed (about 1½ cups)

1½ cups cherry tomatoes, halved

¼ cup tightly packed basil, thinly sliced, plus more for garnish

1 batch brown butter vinaigrette (recipe below)

Kosher salt, as needed

Freshly ground black pepper, as needed

Brown butter vinaigrette

3 tablespoons salted butter

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon sherry vinegar

1 tablespoon honey

1½ teaspoons Dijon mustard

¼ teaspoon kosher salt

Instructions

Step 1

Bring a large saucepan of generously salted water to a rolling boil. Add the orzo and cook according to package instructions. In the final 2 minutes of cooking, add the corn. Drain, transfer to a mixing bowl and set aside.

Step 2

Prepare the brown butter vinaigrette: In a skillet, melt the butter over medium heat. Once melted, cook, stirring frequently, until the butter foams and the milk solids turn golden brown and smell nutty, 3 to 4 minutes. Transfer the butter to a medium mixing bowl and add the olive oil, sherry vinegar, honey, Dijon mustard, and salt. Whisk until well combined.

Step 3

Pour the brown butter vinaigrette over the warm orzo and corn and toss to coat. Add the tomatoes and basil and toss again until evenly combined. Taste and season with salt and pepper as needed. Cover and refrigerate for at least 15 minutes before serving. Garnish with additional basil before serving.

Zoe Barrie is the writer and recipe developer behind Cooking in Season, a biweekly column featuring recipes made from the Sacramento region’s seasonal produce. She runs the popular Substack page Restaurant Dropout and previously worked in Bay Area restaurants after graduating from culinary school.