Orzo and Meatballs
Orzo is one of those things I love, then forget exists, then read about and rember I love it. Thus it was this week, when I read Nigella’s Chicken In A Pot with Lemon and Orzo
We don’t eat a lot of chicken right now, but I did have some small packs of pork and beef mince in, hence, meatballs.
I ended up using dried lemon peel soaked in vodka (best way to get the flavour out), but fresh lemon zest would probably be better. Between makingthe meatballs at lunch time and cooking them in the evening I’d bought lemons, hence the fresh zest over the top.
You will need
- Equal quantities of pork and beef mince, ideally not too lean
- A slice of bread, ideally stale, fine diced
- A handful of green herbs, I used parsley, sage and oregano from the garden
- A teaspoon of fennel seeds
- Ground black pepper
- Zest of a lemon or a heaped teaspoon of dried reconstituted in water or vodka
- Enough orzo to cover the bottom of your baking disk to a height of 1cm
- Enough hot stock to cover the orzo to a height of 2 cm (I used some vegetable bouillon)
Do
- Mix all the ingrediants other than the orzo and stock in a bowl well. Make sure the beef and pork are well integrated. I left the mix though the day in the fridge but there’s no need.
- Form into balls a little smaller than a golf ball
- Pop the orzo in the bottom of a casserole dish and stick the oven on 180
- Nestly the meatballs in the orzo
- Carefully add the hot stock, don’t pour it over the meatballs, they will disintegrate
- Pop it in the oven, uncovered for about 20 minutes or until the stock has been absorbed and the meatballs browned.
- Serve with a squeeze of lemon, and possibly a little salted butter stirred though the orzo.
Results
My balls went a bit dry, but the high fat content helped. The meat juices, lemon flavours and fat all help to make the orzo silky smooth.
Next time I would be tempted to stir though some salted butter and the last moment and add way more lemon peel, maybe a smalll glass of white wine too.
