Tasty Vegan Orzo Pasta

A delicious, easy and filling meal that’s made in one pot and ready in as little as 30 minutes! This Vegan recipe can also be tweaked to use meat sausages…just have a little read to the bottom of the recipe on this page.

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp Olive oil
• 6 vegan sausages (I used the Red pepper & Butternut squash ones from Aldi but any should work)
• 1 Leek finely sliced
• A bunch of tenderstem broccoli
• Handful of frozen peas
• 1 tsp Paprika
• 250g Orzo
• 1 litre of vegetable stock
• A few good handfuls of spinach
• Pepper to taste

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180°C
2. Cut your sausages into small pieces and add to a large, oven proof pan of hot olive oil. It is important to make sure that your pan is well oiled if you are using vegan sausages as they will not release as much fat as regular sausages, meaning it’s very easy to get them stuck to the pan. Cook for a few minutes until the little pieces of sausage start to hold together.
3. Add your leek, broccoli, peas and paprika to the pan and cook for a couple of minutes. You may need a splash of your vegetable stock here just to make sure nothing sticks to the pan and burns.
4. Add your orzo and the rest of your stock and bring to boil. Pop the lid onto your pan and place in the oven for 25-30 minutes, until all the liquid has been absorbed.
5. Once done, add your spinach whilst still hot so it is able to wilt down into the pasta. Pop the lid back onto your pan if this is taking a while as the steam will help to hurry things along.
6. You are now ready to serve. Add a little vegan cheese if you like or a crispy homemade breadcrumb!

This recipe can also be done with meat sausages, just be sure to reduce the amount of oil you begin with and cook the sausages at the start until browned.