Orzo is an Italian type of pasta. The shape of it resembles grains of barley or rice. The Italian translation for orzo is “barley” and it explains the name of it by its shape.

It is among my favourite pasta types, probably because I am rather “grain” than “pasta”person. I like it soft texture and it doesn’t feel too intrusive as usual hard or semi-hard type of pasta.

Remark! I couldn’t find orzo pasta in Latvia and brought it from Italy. But it doesn’t mean that the recipe is not usable if you don’t have orzo at home, you can use any pasta or spaghetti instead of orzo and it will be very delicious as well. Just the shape of orzo pasta has some charm, especially the one which is brought from Rome’s trip, what reminds me about good time 🙂

COURSE: Lunch, Dinner

CUISINE: Plant-based, Vegan

PREP TIME: 10 min

COOKING TIME: 20 min

SERVINGS: 2

CALORIES/per serving: 405 cals (57g of carbs, 12g of protein, 14g of fats)

INGREDIENTS

Orzo pasta – 100g (or 1/2 of cup)  *any other type of pasta can be used

Paprika – 1/2 medium

Carrot – 1 medium

Zucchini – 150g

Tomato raw – 1 medium

Olive oil – 1 tbsp

Garlic – 1 clove

Black Olives – 10 pieces

Sun-dried tomatoes – 10 pieces

Spinach – 1 cup

Apple vinegar – 1 tbsp

Pine nuts – 1 tbsp

Herbs mix – 2 tsp

Chilli powder – 1/4 tsp

Salt and pepper – by taste

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COOKING PROCESS

1. Boil pasta, drain it and put aside.
2. Chop carrot. Cut paprika, zucchini and tomato. *If you don’t like tomato skin in the salad, you will need to blanch it before to cut. I personally don’t mind it to be in a salad and usually don’t blanch tomatoes.
3. Fry cut carrot, paprika and zucchini in frying pan adding olive oil until crust.
4. Add cooked pasta and cut garlic to the pan and continue cooking for few minutes.
5. Cut sun-dried tomatoes and divide black olives in 2 halves.
6. Add olives, sun-dried tomatoes, raw tomato and apple vinegar to the pan and cover it with the lid to stew for 5 minutes.
7. Stir in herbs, salt, pepper and add raw spinach. Stew for another few minutes.
8. Serve the salad warm garnishing with pine nuts.

You can call it just a pasta not a pasta salad, but note that it can be served as a cold dish,  or mixed with fresh salad leaves and drizzled with salad dressing over as well.

Bon appetit, my pasta funs!