Prawn and cherry tomato orzo

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Simple but absolutely delicious and oh so fresh. My prawn and cherry tomato orzo 🦐🍅

My friend recently had a baby and has now reached the weaning stage and is obsessed with orzo. I’m talking about the mom here (although pretty sure the baby is a fan) because the orzo is so small, that the choking hazard goes right down. I’ve watched baby led weaning, and it’s slightly terrifying so I’m banking this orzo knowledge for the future. I mean let’s face it though, any future child of mine will resemble a spud and probs be eating an 80% spud diet. I promise the other 20% will include fruit and veg, don’t come at me.

If you do make this for children, please remove the chilli 😬 I will not be held responsible for that error.

Saying that, don’t reserve your orzo recipes just for visiting babies, enjoy it without the needs for bibs, high chairs and wet wipes. Not gonna lie though, I would save so many clothes and precious washing machine capsules if I just wore a bib. These babies are onto something.

Easy mains

I made this recipe as part of my ’10 ways to up your dinner game’ over on Instagram with the idea of creating easy yet super tasty recipes that helped toward your veg quota whilst also mixing up your standard go-to meals. There’s nothing wrong with a spag bol or a cottage pie but sometimes we need to jazz it up a little and refresh the menu. Let’s get excited about dinner on a Tuesday… and a Wednesday…and every day really. Exciting food doesn’t need to cost a lot or take hours and hours.

For more dinner ideas, check out my recipes here.

Ingredients

metric imperial
  • 3.5oz cherry tomatoes
  • 100g cherry tomatoes
  • 2 cloves garlic, crushed
  • 2 cloves garlic, crushed
  • 5oz orzo
  • 150g orzo
  • 5oz raw prawns
  • 150g raw prawns
  • 2 tbsp cream cheese
  • 2 tbsp cream cheese
  • 1 handful spinach
  • 1 handful spinach
  • 1 lemon
  • 1 lemon
  • 1 red chilli, sliced
  • 1 red chilli, sliced
  • Small bunch parsley, chopped
  • Small bunch parsley, chopped
  • Olive oil, salt and pepper to season
  • Olive oil, salt and pepper to season

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 180ºc/350ºf. In a baking tray add in the garlic and cherry tomatoes, drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast for 15 minutes until starting to blister, and then add in the raw prawns. Return to the oven for 6-8 minutes until the prawns are just cooked.
  2. While the tomatoes are cooking, bring a pot of salted water to the boil. Tip in the orzo and cook for 8-10 minutes until tender. Drain the pasta (keep back a little pasta water) and toss through the cooked tomatoes and prawns.
  3. Stir through the spinach and cream cheese, using a dash of pasta water to loosen the sauce. Season well with salt and pepper, add some lemon zest and juice if needed. Finally stir through the sliced red chilli.
  4. Sprinkle with parsley to serve!