Orzo is such an easy to use ánd eat pasta shape! This time we ate it as a lukewarm pasta salad, with baked courgette, cucumber, arugula, goats cheese and homemade pesto. We also put in black olives and some leftover radishes.

This was another result of a fridge raid, where we had to fish some arugula and some radishes. And when you have a good pantry with lots of nuts, cheeses and olives; a good salad is never far away! So in this recipe, you can basically swap out any ingredients you don’t have for something similar. 

One last tip for making this salad: alway always always use more salt in the pasta water then you think you should. It adds a ton of extra flavour. I hope you enjoy this one!

Orzo, courgette, arugula, goats cheese salad

Ingredients (for 2)

• 200 gr orzo 
• 1 courgette
• salt, pepper and olive oil
• 400 gr of arugula
• 100 gr of pecorino cheese, grated
• 50 gr sunflower seeds
• 1 garlic clove
• 1 cucumber (you only need half)
• 5 radishes
• handful black olives
• 100 gr goats cheese

Method

Boil the orzo in salted water according to the packet instructions. 

Cut the courgette into small cubes. Toss them with salt, pepper and olive oil. Bake them for 5 minutes or so in a pan, until they are done.

Mix 300 gr of the arugula, the pecorino cheese, the sunflower seeds and the garlic in a small blender. Season with salt and pepper and add as much olive oil until you get a pesto-like sauce.

Cut the cucumber into small cubes and cut the radishes into small pieces. 

Toss the drained orzo with half the pesto. Add the courgette, cucumber, radishes, olives and the rest of the arugula. Top with the goats cheese and the rest of the pesto.