Healthy Eating · Mediterranean · Pasta · Recipes · Vegetarian
BySam
3 Comments
This orzo pasta with roasted tomatoes, feta and olives is inspired by a very simple but delicious dish which involved baking feta and olives in a thick tomato sauce I made a few years ago. It’s a wonderful appetizer or warm dip for crusty bread and I remember at the time thinking it would be a delicious sauce for pasta. Instead of making a sauce using tinned tomatoes, I used fresh Mediterranean baby vine tomatoes.
It also occurred to me, again, that roasting or baking cheese with things is a superb idea and I should do it more often. Especially feta which is not my favourite cheese. I find the salt overpowering and the flavour in general quite one-dimensional.
I rarely add it to salad unless it’s a Greek salad, and if I do, I prefer to crumble it over to distribute the taste. The flavour and saltiness of feta work well with this dish and my baked tomato version because thetomatoes temper it and when hot out of the oven it crumbles into the pastabeautifully.
I love to add a few spoons of pesto to orzo/ rosmarinopasta. It gives the dish a load offlavour, and basil is the perfect partner with everything else going on here too.
I recently returned from a trip to South East Asia and have been craving pasta. With all these ingredients available in my fridge, this recipe came to fruition. It’s delicious and served cold as a salad too. I just tossed through roughly torn leaves such as spinach, watercress and rocket to give it more of a salady crunch. Rosmarino, also known as orzo is generally a really fantastic pasta to turn into a salad.
~cooks tips – My tomatoes were leaning on medium so I cut them in half. If they are very small you can leave them whole. I always leave the pips in olives when I cook them, I find it such a chore to de-pip them and I will never buy the ghastly ones with the pips already removed. I just keep a little bowl next to my plate when I’m eating to put them in. I love how they swell up and become juicy and plump when cooked. I used my all-time favourite calamata olives from Kloovenburg which are soaked in blackberry brine. I also added a few tablespoons of the brine because I love a splash of acidity here. You can also use balsamic or red wine vinegar.
I like a little kick of heat with this pasta so I stir in about a teaspoon of my favourite chilli sauce at the end. By chilli sauce, I mean more like an ultra-hot chilli paste. You can add it according to taste or leave it out.
If you wanted to use a more robust pasta like shells or fusilli, I would opt for making my saucier baked version to mix with this.
For a few more of my favourite cheesy baked recipes
goats cheese cigars with honey and thyme
baked ricotta with basil lemon and chilli
parma ham wrapped brie with thyme and garlic bruschetta
A delicious and easy vegetarian orzo pasta with roasted tomatoes, feta and olives. Perfect for a weeknight supper
Print Recipe
Prep Time:10 minutesmins
Cook Time:30 minutesmins
Ingredients
280gms / 1 1/2 cups rosmarino pastaorzo
150gms feta
300gms Mediterraneanvine tomatoes or other baby tomatoes1 punnet and approx. 3 cups
1/3cupkalamata olives
2 - 3Tbsof olive brineor red wine or balsamic vinegar
olive oil to drizzle - about 3 Tbsp
a few springs of fresh thyme
pepper to season
1/2tspdried chilli flakes or your favourite chilli sauce to taste stirred in at the end optional
2 - 3Tbspbasil pesto
Instructions
10Preheat the oven to 180C / 350 F
Cut the feta into small cubes and scatter in a small roasting dish with tomatoes and olives. drizzle over the brine and olive oil andseason with blackpepper. Scatter over the thyme leaves, removing a few of the leaves.
Roast for 25 - 30 minutes depending on the size of the tomatoes. Give the pan a shake during the cooking time.
While this is roasting cook the pasta according to the packet instructions in salty water. Drain and stir through the pesto and chilli.
Add the roasted mixture as soon as it comes out of the oven and serve.
Originating in Italy, orzo pasta has long been a favorite ingredient to use in dishes from soups to salads to starchy sides. So popular, in fact, the rice-shaped pasta earned a following in Spain and Greece.
Orzo is rice-shaped pasta. Although its appearance resembles grains of rice, orzo is actually made from a specific type of flour called semolina. Since orzo is a type of pasta, the health benefits of orzo and pasta made from the same ingredients are the same.
Orzo is a type of pasta that has the shape of a wheat or barley grain and is about the size of rice. It is a common pasta in Greek and Italian cuisine. In Greek it is also called kritharaki (which means barley) or minestra.
Test Kitchen Tip. Rinse the orzo only if it will be baked or served cool in a salad. Otherwise, do not rinse; rinsing removes a light coating of starch that helps sauces and seasonings cling to the pasta.
Is orzo more healthy than pasta? Orzo is a type of pasta. So, they share similar nutritional values. But how healthy a dish is depends more on what you mix into it and how much you take.
Orzo resembles large grains of rice and is perfect for making light pasta dishes that go well with the blossoming of spring. Orzo is commonly made from white flour, but it can be made from whole-grain flour as well, making it a healthier pasta option.
Orzo can be an ingredient in soup, including avgolemono, a Greek soup, and in Italian soups such as minestrone. It can also be part of a salad, a pilaf, or giouvetsi, or baked in a casserole. It can also be boiled and lightly fried, to create a dish similar to risotto.
Orzo is a good source of thiamin and niacin, also providing some B6, folate, iron and zinc. White rice delivers more zinc than the others, but has much smaller amounts of other nutrients.
Orzo is a familiar shape that goes by many names – risoni (or “big rice” in Italian) and puntalette (“tiny tips”) are just two of its other aliases. Orzo literally means “barley” in Italian, as the pasta shape resembles a grain of barley or rice.
Chylopites, kofto makaronaki, kouskousaki, kritharaki, trachanas... These words may sound weird to you, but they are all types of Greek pasta, made with tasty ingredients such as wheat, milk, and eggs. A Greek pasta dish is usually topped with a red tomato or creamy-white sauce, and lots of grated myzithra cheese.
Orzo, also named risoni, is an extremely versatile pasta shape used in a multitude of recipes and cuisines. Translating to mean 'barley' in Italian due to its resemblance to the grains of unprocessed barely, it is categorized as a 'pastina' meaning 'little pasta'.
Cooking with orzo is typically straightforward but still presents certain common issues. Overcooking is a frequent error, which can make the orzo mushy and unappetizing. It's best to always test it a couple of minutes before the package instructions say it should be done, as you want it to be al dente.
Boil the orzo about 10 minutes or until it has a firm, chewy texture, stirring occasionally to prevent it from sticking together. Drain orzo in a colander. For the best flavor and texture, serve the orzo immediately after cooking.
Chylopites, kofto makaronaki, kouskousaki, kritharaki, trachanas... These words may sound weird to you, but they are all types of Greek pasta, made with tasty ingredients such as wheat, milk, and eggs. A Greek pasta dish is usually topped with a red tomato or creamy-white sauce, and lots of grated myzithra cheese.
While Asian noodles are believed to have originated in China, pasta is believed to have independently originated in Italy and is a staple food of Italian cuisine, with evidence of Etruscans making pasta as early as 400 BCE in Italy.
WHERE IS ORZO MADE? The barley version is made Friuli Venezia Giulia region in the northeast. However there are recipes from other parts Italy that feature local favorites like Carbonara.
Orzotto (Italian pronunciation: [orˈdzɔtto]) is an Italian dish similar to risotto, but made with pearl barley instead of rice. Orzotti are a speciality of the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region of northeastern Italy. The name is a portmanteau of orzo (the Italian word for barley) and risotto.
Introduction: My name is Frankie Dare, I am a funny, beautiful, proud, fair, pleasant, cheerful, enthusiastic person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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