Creamy Goat Cheese & Roasted Red Pepper Risoni (Orzo)
Recipe video above. Goat's cheese and jarred fire-roasted red peppers (capsicum) makes this dish special even though it's quick and simple! The sauce is a little bit smoky and a little bit creamy, while olives add briny freshness. Tastes like a Mediterranean risotto!Get the risoni boiling first then start on the sauce. Serve as a meal or as a side with a simple piece of cooked fish, prawns/shrimp, chicken or pork chops.
Servings: 4
Calories: 452cal
Ingredients
- 250g/ 8oz risoni pasta (orzo) , or other very small pasta (tiny stars, novelty shapes like dinosaurs, ditalini)
- 2 tsp cooking salt/kosher salt , for cooking the pasta
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 red onion , halved then cut into 5mm / 0.2" slices (sub regular onion)
- 2 garlic cloves , finely minced
- 310g/ 10oz jar chargrilled / fire-roasted sliced red capsicum/peppers (~ 1 cup), drained, roughly chopped into 2.5cm / 1" pieces (Note 1)
- 2 cups tomato passata or puree (Note 2)
- 1/2 cup sliced Kalamata olives or other briny/pickly thing (like pickles, chopped)
- 1/4 tsp cooking salt / kosher salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 120g/4 oz goat's cheese , the creamy feta type (Note 3)
Finishing - CHOOSE (Note 4)
- 1 tightly packed cup basil leaves
- 1 tbsp roughly chopped parsley , plus extra for garnish
Instructions
- Boil risoni - Bring a small pot or large saucepan of water to the boil. Add salt and cook risoni until just under al dente (ie still a bit firm inside) as it will cook more in the sauce. 8 minutes for me.
- Drain & rinse - Just before draining, scoop out 1/2 cup pasta cooking water and set aside. Drain, rinse briefly under the tap then leave the risoni in the colander while you finish the sauce.
- Sauté - Heat the oil in a large non stick skillet (30cm/12") over high heat. Add onion and cook for 2 minutes until starting to soften. Add garlic and capsicum strips. Cook for 2 minutes until the onion is softened.
- Simmer - Add tomato and olives. Bring to a simmer, lower heat to medium and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring every now and then.
- Melt goat cheese - Add cooked risoni, salt, pepper and the pasta cooking water. Stir to combine. Add most of the goat's cheese (reserve some for garnish), stir so it melts.
- Basil & serve - Stir through basil or parsley just before serving. Divide between bowls. Crumble over reserved goat's cheese, sprinkle with extra basil. Dig in with a spoon!
Notes
1. Fire roasted red peppers / capsicum - Find it alongside olives, it's smoky, soft, slippery and a terrific shortcut here. Substitution ideas - sauté your own capsicum strips or other vegetables (zucchini, mushrooms, asparagus), or use other fire roasted vegetables you find (asparagus is one I've seen).
PS It's not spicy, despite the name "pepper" :)
2. Tomato passata - Sold in bottles in the pasta aisle (sometimes canned tomato section). US: substitute what what you call "tomato puree" (eg Hunts). More on passata in post or here. Substitute with 600g/21 oz (1 1/2 cans) canned crushed tomato and simmer for a few extra minutes.
3. Goat cheese is cheese made from goat milk which has a distinctive creamy texture with a mild flavour that is a bit tangy. You need the soft feta sort for this dish, usually sold in log form - melts beautifully into sauces. Sold at regular grocery stores. Substitute with Danish feta (ie the creamy sort) or sour cream (1/2 to 3/4 cup). Else, yogurt or 1/3 - 1/2 cup cream plus a squeeze of lemon juice will deliver a similar flavour.
4. Herb finishes - Basil is my first preference, the freshness really elevates the dish. If I don't have it, I use parsley or add 1 tsp dried oregano when I add the garlic.
Leftovers will keep for 3 to 4 days in the fridge. Reheat in microwave and loosen as needed with splash of water to make it oozy again.
Nutrition per serving. Calorie savings from using heavy on low-cal vegetables - tomato passata, fire roasted red peppers (it's not packed in oil) and onion.
Nutrition
Calories: 452cal | Carbohydrates: 61g | Protein: 16g | Fat: 17g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 9g | Cholesterol: 14mg | Sodium: 1531mg | Potassium: 869mg | Fiber: 6g | Sugar: 9g | Vitamin A: 1427IU | Vitamin C: 49mg | Calcium: 126mg | Iron: 4mg