Orzo with crispy cabbage, lemon and pine nuts recipe
A well-seasoned orzo salad with a citrus tang and mild pine nuts.
"Amazing how easy it is to borrow a recipe without realizing it. ‘I’m not entirely sure where this recipe came from’, I began this introduction. ‘Possibly just some strange and hungry backwater of my mind. Orzo is a kind of pasta that looks like fat grains of rice. If you can’t find it, use macaroni instead…’.
After cooking it one evening, however, my wife Rosie pointed out that there is a recipe in her own book, The Recipe Wheel, that is nigh-on identical, save for the fact that she uses macaroni instead. So there you go. It’s still here because, well, it’s rather nice. But thanks to Ro for the idea."
Ingredients
- 200 g orzo
- 4 tbsp olive oil
- 1 garlic clove, peeled and thinly sliced
- 1 savoy cabbage, very thinly sliced
- 1 lemon, zest and juice
- 1 tbsp pine nuts
- 1 sprinkling grated Parmesan cheese
Details
- Cuisine: Italian
- Recipe Type: Salad
- Difficulty: Easy
- Preparation Time: 5 mins
- Cooking Time: 10 mins
- Serves: 2
Step-by-step
- Bring a pan of salted water to a boil and cook the orzo according to packet instructions. Drain and run under a cold tap until cool.
- Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large frying pan or saucepan over a medium–high heat, and briefly fry the garlic.
- Add the cabbage and season with salt and pepper. Cook for 5–7 minutes, stirring frequently, until the cabbage is cooked and crisp here and there. Stir in the lemon zest and juice and set aside.
- In a dry frying pan, toast the pine nuts over a medium–high heat, taking care not to burn. Stir these and the cabbage through the pasta. Leave to cool and store in the fridge for up to 3 days.
- Serve with a little grated Parmesan.
Recipe taken from Love your Lunchbox by James Ramsden, published by Pavilion.
Photography by Martin Poole.
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