Baked orzo with courgette & mozzarella
Adapted from http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2012/09/baked-orzo-with-eggplant-and-mozzarella/
Serves 3-4
vegetarian
Ingredients
Ingredients
450g courgette, diced
Salt and black pepper
4 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, finely diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
250g orzo pasta, rinsed
1 teaspoon tomato paste
350ml vegetable stock
1 to 3 tablespoons fresh oregano, chopped
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest or more to taste, up to the zest of a whole lemon
125g mozzarella, diced
50g parmesan, grated
3 medium tomatoes, diced
Directions
Directions
- Preheat your oven to 350°F/180C/gas 4.
- Heat a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Once hot, add the oil and once the oil is shimmering, add the courgette. Fry for 8 minutes, stirring pieces occasionally.
- Add onion and garlic. Cook together for 5 more minutes on medium heat.
- Stir in the orzo and tomato paste and cook for two minutes more.
- Off the heat, add the oregano, mozzarella, parmesan, tomatoes, lemon zest, 1 teaspoon table salt, many grinds of black pepper and the stock and mix well.
- Transfer mixture to an 8×11-inch (about 2 quarts) ovenproof baking dish. Cover with foil and bake 20 minutes, then bake 20 minutes without the foil. (You can increase the ration of foil-on to foil-off time if you don’t like a crunchy pasta lid.)
- Let rest for 5 minutes before serving.
This recipe tastes even better made with vegetables from Community Harvest Whetstone :)