Orzo with Tomato and Mussels

For 2-4

This spicy and comforting recipe is a tribute to the much loved Orzo dish ‘Giouvetsi’ eaten throughout Greece; however, instead of beef and lamb this recipe uses mussels as they are super stainable and delicious!

Orzo is a traditional Greek pasta, its ‘rice-like’ shape is very unique and is often cooked in an oven with beef or lamb placed on top, leaving the orzo to absorb the juices! This carb loading recipe is just as delicious and comforting, if not more with the use of mussels!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of orzo

• 1 jar of whole plum tomatoes

• 1kl of fresh mussels

• 1 white onion

• 4 cloves of garlic

• 2 tsp of dried oregano

• 1/2 tsp of cinnamon

• 1 tsp of chilli flakes

• 1 large glass of white wine

• 500ml vegetable stock

• 200ml of olive oil

Method

Step 1: Clean and open Mussels

Begin by placing your muscles into a large bowl in the sink and turn on the cold tap. Slowly run the tap for about 30 minutes so that any sand inside the shells is washed out. Whilst the tap is running over the Mussels sort them by removing the *beards. Pull on the beards and they should come out of the shell.

* beards are the ‘hair-like’ fibres that hangs out of the shell

Once the mussels are clean, put a large pan on a high heat onto the stove. Drain your mussels of any water and tip them into the hot pan, then quickly place a lid on top. Once they have opened up remove from heat (it will only take a few minutes), then let cool. Once cooled remove the mussels from their shells and place to one side (discard any muscles that didn’t open).

Step 2: Make sauce

Preheat the oven to 170oC.

Finely dice 1 onion and add to a large saucepan with 100ml of olive oil and a 1 tbsp of salt then sweat on a low heat. Once the onion is soft, grate into the pan 4 peeled cloves of garlic, sweat for 2 minutes more. Then add 2 tsp of dried oregano, 1/2 tsp of cinnamon, 1 tsp of chilli flakes and 1 large glass of white wine. Reduce the wine by half then add 1 jar of plum tomatoes, 1 cup of orzo and 500ml of vegetable stock and turn off the heat.

*To make your own vegetable stock use the recipe from my Wild Asparagus Risotto

Step 3: Bake

Line a small/medium baking tray with parchment paper. Pour your orzo into the dish and cover with foil, bake for 50 minutes (until soft). Remove from the oven and stir through your cooked mussels then adjust the seasoning. Return to the oven without foil for another 10 minutes.

Step 5: Dish up

Generously spoon the orzo into a bowl and sprinkle some additional oregano and chilli flakes on top and then dig in!