I was a little skeptical of how this recipe would taste, but WOW was I pleasantly surprised! It is Greek tasting through and through. All of the fresh herbs are well-balanced. The saltiness of the olives round out the tartness of the lemon juice and lemon pasta. It's light in flavor making this a great lunch option. In addition, the color of each ingredient adds to its visual appeal.
Ingredients½ lb. Pappardelle’s Lemon Garlic Orzo
2 tablespoon Sherry wine vinegar (we used red wine vinegar)
Juice from 1 lemon (we used 3 Tbs of bottled lemon juice)1 ¼ pounds heirloom (or other fresh tomatoes) tomatoes cut into ½ inch pieces (we used 1/2 cup of Roma tomatoes because that's all we had!)
¾ cup chopped green onions* (we used 1/2 cup)
1 clove garlic, finely minced*
½ cup sliced pitted oil-cured black or green olives* (we used Kalamata olives)
½ cup thinly sliced fresh basil
½ cup chopped fresh mint (we used 1/4 cup)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley (we omitted this)
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
Method
1. Cook orzo in large pot of lightly salted boiling water until done, about 12 minutes. Drain, rinse with cold water and drain thoroughly. Transfer to a medium bowl; cool.
2. Whisk vinegar and lemon juice in small bowl; gradually whisk in oil. Pour dressing over orzo. Mix in remaining ingredients. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
3. Can be made 2 hours ahead. Mix well before serving.
Copyright © 2011 by Pappardelle's Pasta Co.
Additional Suggestions
-- Replace the “*” items with ¼ cup Pappardelle’s Basil Pesto and cut back the amount of olive oil to ¼ cup
-- Add 2 pounds of lightly sauteed veggies (onion, bell pepper, zucchini, yellow squash, etc.) at the end
-- Serve with sprinkled feta cheese on top, warm pita bread, and hummus
Source of Inspiration
The recipe comes from none other then Pappardelle's Pasta! The photo, description, and substitutions come courtesy of the Pasta Artistica Test Kitchen!
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