Sausage & Fennel Orzotto

My weekly CSA delivery often contains items that I don't use on a regular basis. My last delivery included a bunch of baby fennel so I went on a search for ideas beyond braised or sautéed fennel. I found the following recipe through an app on my iPad. I had just enough fennel to make 1 cup sliced, so I just adjusted the rest of the ingredients by half. This was delicious and I will definitely make it again.

Ingredients
3 1⁄2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 lb. link spicy Italian sausage
2 cups thinly sliced fennel (reserve fennel fronds and chop)
1 cup diced red onion
2 tsp. minced garlic
1 ⁄2 tsp. red pepper flakes
1 ⁄2 tsp. dried thyme
2 cups dry orzo pasta
1 ⁄2 cup dry white wine
1 ⁄2 cup grated Parmesan
2 Tbsp. unsalted butter
1 ⁄4 cup chopped fresh parsley
2 tsp. minced lemon zest
Salt and black pepper to taste
Directions
Heat broth in a saucepan over low; keep it warm while preparing remaining ingredients.
Heat oil in a large sauté pan over medium. Add sausage; sauté until browned, 10–12 minutes per side. Transfer sausage to a paper-towel-lined plate. When cool enough to handle, slice sausage into 1/2-inch-thick rounds; set aside.
In the pan used to cook sausage, sauté fennel and onion until they begin to brown and soften, about 5 minutes. Add garlic, pepper flakes, and thyme; cook, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes. Transfer vegetable mixture to a bowl.
Add orzo to the sauté pan, stirring to coat pasta with residual oil in the pan; cook 2 minutes.
Deglaze the pan with wine, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom.
Add 1 1/2 cups warm broth to orzo; cook, stirring constantly, until broth is nearly absorbed, about 5 minutes. Add another cup of broth; cook and stir orzo until broth is nearly absorbed, another 5 minutes. Add the remaining 1 cup broth; cook and stir until liquid is fully absorbed. Taste orzo for doneness. It should be creamy but not gummy.
Stir in sausage slices and vegetable mixture, then add Parmesan, butter, parsley, zest, and chopped fennel fronds. Season orzotto with salt and pepper.
Nutrition Information
Per serving: 637 cal; 35g total fat (13g sat); 76mg chol; 758mg sodium; 51g total carbs; 3g fiber; 24g protein

Recipe submitted by hedley
From the Key Ingredient website