The lazy cook in me was intrigued by the baked pasta recipe that appeared on Smitten Kitchen today. Because the pasta it used was orzo and (why did I never think of this before?) the orzo can be baked without pre-boiling, thereby saving you six minutes and the washing of an extra pot. You’re welcome.Deb’s recipe, adapted from our favorite Yotam Ottolenghi, is for a cheesy (just-cheesy-enough, she says) bake with the usual Ottolenghian flourishes of lemon zest and oregano. And it sounds lovely. But once I started browning perfect summer vegetables–eggplant, zucchini, peppers, falling-apart fragrant tomatoes–I couldn’t bear to adulterate them much. (If your tomatoes are less than perfect, by all means try out the original recipe’s suggestion to jazz them up with a few tablespoons of chopped oregano and the zest of a lemon; you could even add that chopped mozzarella.) For me, whole wheat orzo, salt, and the heat of the oven were enough to make the pan of vegetables a hearty late-summer meal. I crumbled feta on top at the end and browned it under the broiler, but it’s perfectly delicious without the cheese. A tomato salad on the side provided a sweet little bite of acid to compliment the richness of the cooked vegetables. (The Indigo Rose tomatoes were almost too pretty to eat. Almost.)
Continue reading
Baked Whole Wheat Orzo with Late-Summer Vegetables
17 Replies