Vegetarian dinner in 30: Try this supereasy one-pan orzo delight.
Dinner on the table in less than 30 minutes? It’s not only possible but delicious
I hate washing dishes, so many items in my overflowing kitchen cabinets rarely get used. Does a food processor make life easier? Yes. Do I want to take it apart to clean it out? No.
So when I cook at home, I almost always turn to what I call LDI recipes: low dishwasher impact. This is one of those.
England’s culinary queen Nigella Lawson had posted a picture of the dish on her Instagram page, and it looked so gorgeous — a colorful spray of asparagus, leeks and hazelnuts strewn across a roasting pan of orzo — I had to make it immediately, even it it’s not asparagus season in Texas. She found the recipe in Rukmini Iyer’s “The Green Roasting Tin,” a vegetarian follow-up to the well-received one-pan cookbook, “The Roasting Tin.”
Now, as any scrubbing-averse home cook worth her salt knows, “one-pan” recipes can often require multiple pots and pans for prep. Not here. All you need is a roasting pan, measuring vessels, cutting board, knife and serving spoon. The result, a savory marvel with bountiful textures and crunch, comes together in less than 30 minutes.
It’s filling, too, and leftovers are delicious eaten cold the next day —might I suggest straight from the Tupperware container or served on paper plates?
Quick Cook Leek Orzotto with Asparagus, Hazelnuts and Arugula
Adapted from “The Green Roasting Tin” by Rukmini Iyer (Square Peg, 2018) via Nigella.com Makes 3-4 servings 2 cups uncooked orzo pasta 750 milliliters (a little less than 3¼ cup) vegetable stock
2 leeks (thinly sliced)
1 pound (about one bushel) fresh green asparagus, trimmed and halved
2-3 tablespoon olive oil 1 teaspoon sea salt Freshly ground black pepper Zest and juice of 1 lemon
½ cup hazelnuts
4-5 cups arugula, roughly chopped Instructions: Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
Mix the orzo and vegetable stock in a roasting pan.
Rub the leeks and asparagus with 1 tablespoon olive oil, salt, black pepper and lemon zest, then scatter all over the orzo along with the hazelnuts.
Transfer to the oven for 20 minutes. Remove, and stir through the chopped arugula, lemon juice and olive oil.
Season as needed with salt, pepper and more lemon juice to taste, then serve hot.
Note: Use blanched almonds if you don’t have hazelnuts — you need the crunch to finish off the dish. This dish lives or dies by the seasoning you add at the end — taste and adjust the lemon and salt to your taste until it's just perfect.