Roasting tomatoes is such a great way to add flavour to a dish, and a lovely way to dress the orzo pasta salad. This recipe uses some left-over roast chicken but could easily be kept vegetarian by adding some chopped celery, bell peppers, red onion or whatever you like! Pasta salad are often disappointing but using orzo pasta – traditionally used for soups and salads – with a light and fresh dressing makes for a delicious light lunch.
(1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)
Loading...Ingredients
- 150g orzo pasta
- 10-12 cherry tomatoes
- 3 cloves garlic
- Handful of basil leaves
- Large handful of spinach, chopped.
- 250g cooked chicken - leftover from a roast dinner is perfect
- Olive oil, salt and pepper
Instructions
Cook the pasta according to the packet instructions. Rinse in cold water to stop the cooking and set aside.
Slice the tomatoes in a mix of halves and quarters and put in a small roasting dish. Throw over a little olive oil and season. Drop in a few garlic cloves and roast at 200º for 10-12 minutes.
Cut or tear the cooked chicken into bite-size pieces.
Mix the chicken into the pasta and add the roasted tomatoes and all their juices. Discard the garlic cloves - if they had been roasted a bit longer then you could squeeze them into the dish but after 10 minutes they wont yet be ready.
Add the chopped spinach and plenty of torn basil leaves. Mix together, season and add a squeeze of fresh lemon juice.
Serve with some green salad, some sliced avocado or grilled courgettes.
Notes
Any soft herbs would work well here, for example parsley or chives.
Brina
June 1, 2020 at 10:31 amDelicious!