Sweet Potato & Spinach Orzo

Sweet Potato & Spinach Orzo

This recipe was intended to be a comforting risotto but there seemed to a mysterious lack of risotto in stores here (the new panic buying trend?) so I settled on an orzo, which isn’t the same but it’s absolutely delicious. It’s hearty, it’s comforting and it’s very easily adaptable – don’t forget to look at my Upgrade Ideas at the bottom of the post!

Ingredients

Serves 2 (generously)

200g orzo pasta

300g cubed sweet potato

75g of baby spinach

3 large cloves of garlic

Handful of pine nuts (optional)

Parmesan

Olive oil

Salt & pepper to taste

Method

Drizzle some olive oil and salt over your sweet potato and stick it in the oven at 180ºC. You can leave them in there to roast while the orzo boils.

Measure out 200g of orzo and add to a pot of salted boiling water. Keep stirring to stop it sticking. You could also add some olive oil but I find it doesn’t help that much – maybe I’m doing it wrong!

Drain the orzo once cooked through and set aside – or keep it in its water to stop it sticking while you prep the sweet potato.

Heat some olive oil in a pan and add in your garlic. I like to smash the cloves before chopping them as it gets the flavour out much better.

That white tube in the background there is a nifty little garlic peeler that I got for Christmas one year – so handy! You can find similar ones on Amazon.

Get your sweet potato out of the oven and put it in the pan with your olive oil and garlic. Stir generously and add in your spinach. Sprinkle in a tiny bit more salt if you want to and turn off the heat.

Add in the cooked orzo and mix it all up. Add in a little bit more olive oil, some parmesan and pepper. Combine well and serve with pine nuts on top!

Upgrade Ideas

  • This can get quite heavy so popping in some cherry tomatoes in the oven alongside your sweet potato can bring a nice tanginess to break up the flavour. Prepare in the same way as the sweet potato
  • These flavours would also go great with chickpeas and feta cubes in the orzo – it would bulk up the orzo perfectly for a set of make-ahead lunches.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.