One-pot baked lamb orzo recipe
Bring the warm flavours of the Mediterranean to your table with this fantastic one-pot dish full of aromatic Greek herbs and spices. Orzo looks like a large grain of rice but it’s actually a pasta and it has a wonderful velvety texture that’s perfect for a comforting family meal. A super easy, flavour-packed meal with very little washing up is most definitely good mood food.
Ingredients
- 500 g lamb rump steaks, trimmed of fat and cut into chunks
- 2 tbsp olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
- 0.5 lemon, for squeezing
- 1.5 tsp ground allspice
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 1 small cinnamon stick
- 2 tsp tomato purée
- 0.5 tsp chilli flakes
- 1 x 400g/14oz tin cherry tomatoes
- 1 tbsp runny honey
- 1 large rosemary sprig
- 550 ml chicken stock
- 250 g orzo
- 100 g baby spinach leaves
- 60 g black olives, pitted and halved
- 80 g feta, crumbled
- 2 tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley
- 1 pinch each of sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Details
- Cuisine: Greek
- Recipe Type: Lamb
- Difficulty: Easy
- Preparation Time: 15 mins
- Cooking Time: 50 mins
- Serves: 4
Step-by-step
- Place the lamb in a large bowl with a good drizzle of olive oil, a squeeze of lemon juice, 1 teaspoon of the allspice, ½ teaspoon of the oregano and half the garlic. Season with salt and pepper and mix well. Cover and leave to marinate for at least 30 minutes, preferably longer.
- Preheat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan/400°F/gas mark 6.
- Heat the oil in a large flameproof casserole over a medium-high heat and add the lamb. Cook for 3–4 minutes to sear the meat. Remove from the pan with a slotted spoon and set aside.
- In the same pan, add the onion, lower the heat to medium and cook for 4–6 minutes until softened but not coloured.
- Add the cinnamon, remaining garlic, allspice and oregano and cook for 30 seconds until fragrant. Add the tomato purée and chilli flakes and stir before adding the tomatoes, honey, rosemary and stock. Season with a little salt and a generous grind of pepper.
- Return the lamb to the pan, bring to the boil, then reduce the heat, cover and gently simmer for 5 minutes.
- Add the orzo and give everything a good stir. Transfer the casserole, uncovered, to the oven. Bake for 20–25 minutes until the orzo is tender but still with bite.
- Remove from the oven, take out the cinnamon stick and stir through the spinach.
- Cover and allow to rest for 5 minutes before stirring in the olives. Serve scattered with the feta and chopped parsley.
This recipe is from Ainsley's Good Mood Food by Ainsley Harriott (Ebury Press, £20). Photography by Dan Jones.
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