Baked orzo with courgette & mozzarella

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

1. Preheat your oven to 350°F/180C/gas 4.
2. 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.
3. Add onion and garlic. Cook together for 5 more minutes on medium heat.
4. Stir in the orzo and tomato paste and cook for two minutes more.
5. 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.
6. 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.)
7. Let rest for 5 minutes before serving.

This recipe tastes even better made with vegetables from Community Harvest Whetstone :)