Creamy tomato orzotto

This is a great crowd pleaser dish that doesn’t take long to make. It’s perfect for mid-week as it’s easy to throw together and if our household is anything to go by, everyone will love it - even if they do pick out the courgettes!

If there are other veggies that you prefer, you could also switch the pepper or courgette for spinach, peas, broccoli or sweetcorn - all would work really well . I would add any of these with the roasted tomatoes towards the end, apart from broccoli as it would need slightly longer to cook.

Ingredients

Serves 4 generously

• 250g baby plum tomatoes, halved

• 1 medium onion, finely chopped

• 1 red or yellow pepper, sliced

• 1 small courgette, half moon slices

• 1 large clove garlic

• 400g orzo

• 1L boiling water

• 2 tsp vegetable bouillon (low salt)

• 1 x 400g tin chopped tomatoes

• 1 tsp fresh thyme leaves, or ½ tsp dried

• 4 tbsp (heaped) or 120g mascarpone cheese

• 50g parmesan

• ½ tbsp red wine vinegar

• 1 ¼ tsp sea salt

• A good grind of black pepper

• Large handful basil, leaves roughly chopped

Method

• Preheat the oven to 180ºc

• Spread the tomatoes on a large tray, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt. Roast in the oven for 25 minutes.

• Heat ½ tbsp of olive oil in a large pan and fry the onion gently for 5 minutes, then add the garlic and pepper, cooking for a further 5 minutes.

• Next add the courgette slices and cook for 10 minutes, stirring regularly.

• Add the orzo, boiling water, tinned tomatoes, vegetable bouillon and thyme, stirring well. Simmer with the lid off for 20 minutes, stirring regularly to stop the orzo sticking to the bottom of the pan.

• Then add the roasted tomatoes, carefully scraping all the residue from the bottom of the tin for extra flavour.

• Stir in the mascarpone, 30g parmesan, vinegar, salt, pepper and finish with the basil.

• Serve with a green salad, the rest of the parmesan and garlic ciabatta (if you have time).