Orzo pasta with zucchini, tomato and spinach

5 van 8 Stemmen

Orzo pasta with zucchini, tomato and spinach

Orzo, a pasta in the shape of a large grain of rice, made from barley and mainly used in the countries around the Mediterranean such as Italy, Greece, Turkey...

Prep Time15

Cook Time25

Total Time40

Course: Main dish, pasta and cereals

Cuisine: Own recipe, Mediterranean

Keyword: orzo pasta, pasta recipe, orzo pasta recipe, pasta with zucchini

language: en

gelegenheid: daily dishes

Servings: persons

Calories: 451kcal

Equipment

deep pan
cooking pot

Ingredients

300 gr orzo pasta
400 ml passata mashed tomatoes puree
20 cherry tomatoes
50 gr baby spinach
1 zucchini
2 cloves garlic
1 glass water
½ cube vegetable broth
2 tea spoon sweet paprika powder
2 tbl spoon tomato paste
1 tea spoon harissa pasta spicy concentrate made of peppers
3 tbl spoon olive oil
10 gr basil fresh

Instructions

Put a pot of water (with a dash of olive oil and a pinch of salt) on the heat and cook the orzo pasta according to the instructions on the package. Do not let it cook for too long because it will be fried afterwards. Place the pasta in a colander, discarding the excess water and toss in a tablespoon of olive oil. Make sure it doesn't stick together.
Wash the zucchini (I don't peel it). Cut it in half lengthwise and then cut it in half again lengthwise. Now cut fine slices. Shred the cloves of garlic.
Rinse the tomatoes and spinach.
Put 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a deep pan and fry the garlic for one minut. Than add the zucchini and fry for another 3 minutes. Add a glass of water, the spinach, cherry tomatoes, tomato concentrate and harissa. (if you don't have harissa, take 1/2 tsp chili flakes) Stew and stir until the spinach has wilted. Crumble the stock cube and sprinkle with the paprika.
Add the passata and stir well. Taste and season with salt and pepper if necessary.
Now spoon in the orzo pasta and let it simmer for another 3 minutes.
At the end I added some shredded basil because I love the combination of tomato and basil. I served this pasta with a piece of baked hake.

Notes

Do you know orzo pasta? Orzo is a dried pasta based on barley. Due to its rice-shaped grain size, the rice is often replaced by orzo in various dishes. Just think of risotto or paella. I find this pasta super versatile. Sometimes I add it to a meal soup. A cold pasta salad with vegetables is also delicious. In this dish I fried it in the pan along with vegetables. If you like a fuller, creamy structure, you can also stir in some coconut cream or bake some scampi with it. So many possibilities...

This dish is perfect on its own, but if you want something extra, you can serve it with a piece of fried white fish, chicken or grilled haloumi.

Nutrition