Red Orzo Risotto (3-4)
Ingredients
Instructions
  1. Cook the orzo in plenty of boiling salted water in a spacious, lidded sauté or frying pan, stirring once to prevent sticking, for about 10 minutes until just tender. Drain, but reserve a mugful of the cooking water.
  2. Tip the pasta into a warmed bowl, toss with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and 2 tablespoons of the cooking water, then cover with a stretch of clingfilm.
  3. Trim, halve and slice the onion. Heat the other tablespoon of olive oil in the pan and add in the onion. Cook, stirring often, for 6 or 7 minutes. Peel the garlic and crush it to a paste with a pinch of salt.
  4. Peel the roasted Romano peppers, if using. Slice them or the piquillos into ribbons and chop a few times. Stir the garlic into the onion, add 2 tablespoons of the orzo cooking water, cover, reduce the heat and cook for 10 minutes. Add the saffron and mix it in, followed by the peppers.
  5. Quarter the tomatoes and blitz them into passata. Pour it into the pan. Simmer for a few minutes until juicy but not too wet. Mix in the drained pasta and turn off the heat. Halve the olives round their middles and chop the parsley leaves. Stir both into the pasta. Serve with a few teaspoons of goat’s cheese.