Guest Recipe: Quick Creamy Orzo With Peas, Bacon and Basil

Spring is nearly here, so now is a great time to think ahead and make that desire reflect on the food we consume. So this is how this quick creamy orzo pasta with peas, bacon and basil has come through. It’s full of flavour, easy to make and can be turned vegan too, so you know it’s as versatile as it gets!

And not only that, you will be able to whip this up in less than 25 minutes. From pot to the dish, yes, 25 minutes in total. Your whole family will enjoy it, even the picky eaters will ask for seconds.

With most ingredients already in your pantry, make this your dinner plan for a mid-week treat. So you can be in and out of the kitchen as quick as the kids can say ‘What’s for tea?’.

• Prep Time: 10 min
• Cook Time: 15 min
• Total Time: 25 min

Serves: 4 servings

Category: Pasta,Dinner

Ingredients

• 1 medium-sized shallot
• 80g frozen peas
• 50g bacon lardons
• 300g orzo pasta
• 1L vegetable broth
• 50g grated parmesan cheese
• 1 handful of freshly chopped basil
• Zest of one lemon
• Salt and pepper to taste

Method

1. Grab a big pan and cook the bacon without oil or butter. Once it’s nice and crispy, set it aside in a bowl, leaving the fat in the pan.
2. Add the thinly sliced shallot to the same pan and soften them, then add the peas and let them soften slightly.
3. Add the orzo pasta, combine well, then add half of the vegetable broth and stir. You will keep on adding the broth until the orzo pasta is almost fully cooked, around 8 minutes.
4. Wait for the broth to be fully absorbed, then add the parmesan cheese, three-quarters of the crispy bacon lardons, chopped basil and lemon zest. If needed, you can now also add the salt and pepper.
5. Serve hot, topped with some extra basil, bacon, and a sprinkle of parmesan.

To make the recipe vegan, replace the bacon lardons with vegan bacon chopped or remove them altogether. The cheese can be replaced by your favourite vegan cheese or a tablespoon of nutritional yeast flakes.

The Grumpy Olive is a food & lifestyle blog run by Simona and Cristina, two Italian sisters. We have a strong passion for all things food and cook to our heart's content! We love to host friends and family as, you might have guessed, our love language is food. We always love to try different cuisines and influences in our dishes, so we hope you'll enjoy our recipes.