A fresh, zingy dish with small, rice-shaped pasta. Ready in under 15 minutes
Orzo is a delightful pasta - in the same league as pastina as far as comfort food goes. It's very much a texture ingredient: properly cooked, the orzo is soft, but with a bit of a nutty resistance - like good risotto. The lime and chilli give the dish a little kick and a zing. If your diet is vegan or otherwise, leaving out the pancetta will still give you a lovely dish, and instead of Parmesan, sprinkle the plated orzo with breadcrumbs fried or toasted in a little garlic salt or cayenne
INGREDIENTS
350g orzo - about 75g per person
olive oil
pancetta cubes or strips
sage leaves
half a courgette
3 cloves garlic
a lime - for zest & juice
a splash of white wine - pecorino, pinot grigio or similar
parsley
parmesan
Watch the video
METHOD
Bring a pan of water to the boil and add the orzo - cook for 8-10 minutes
put some olive oil in a frying pan on a reasonable high heat
add the pancetta and sage leaves and stir
add the courgette and the garlic and stir through
add the lime zest, stir through then add the lime juice
splash in the white wine
add the chopped parsley
add some of the water from the orzo
drain the orzo and add to the frying pan
grate parmesan over the pan and add pepper - stir through
plate up and drizzle with some good olive oil
here you can sprinkle with fried breadcrumbs if you don't eat cheese - or even if you do!