SEAFOOD ORZO WITH PEPPERS AND SAFFRON

This is a gorgeous centrepiece – and the dish is so easy to rustle up

This dish is one to pull out for a special occasion. It’s such a gorgeous centrepiece but so easy to rustle up. Saffron brings a wonderfully sweet and floral note, but you can do it without – try adding a few strips of orange and lemon zest instead. Serve up with a leafy salad dressed in olive oil and lemon juice.

Serves three

TIME

45-minute meal

INGREDIENTS

2 garlic cloves, crushed

1 rosemary sprig

Pinch of chilli flakes

2 tbsp olive oil

2 red, yellow or orange peppers, cut into smallish chunks

250g cherry tomatoes

1 chicken or vegetable stock cube

550ml boiling water

Pinch of saffron

1 x 400g can plum tomatoes

250g orzo pasta 9 shell-on raw prawns 12 live clams, prepared according to the instructions above left

Zest of 1 unwaxed lemon, plus lemon wedges to serve

Grated parmesan cheese, to serve (optional)

METHOD

Preheat your oven to 220C/200C fan/Gas 7. In a medium-sized roasting tin, toss together the garlic, rosemary, chilli flakes, olive oil, peppers and cherry tomatoes. Season, then roast for 15 minutes, tossing from time to time.

Dissolve the stock cube in the measured boiling water, adding the saffron to infuse. Once the peppers are looking burnished in places, remove the roasting tin from the oven. Add the plum tomatoes, breaking them up a little with a wooden spoon. Then add the infused stock and orzo to the tin and stir to combine. Season again, then cover with foil and bake for 12 minutes.

Remove from the oven, peel off the foil and give the orzo a good stir: loosen any bits that are sticking at the edges and redistribute. Pop the foil on again and return to the oven for three minutes. By now, most of the liquid should be absorbed and the orzo should be al dente.

Remove from the oven and take off the foil. Give the orzo another stir before tucking in the prawns and clams. Bake for a further three to four minutes until the prawns turn pink and the clams pop open (discard any that remain closed). Sprinkle over the lemon zest and serve with some lemon wedges. Grate over some parmesan, too, if liked.