Roasting cherry tomatoes is a great way to intensify their flavour.
We add ours on top of delicious orzo with chickpeas, along with our homemade almond ‘ricotta’.
Enjoy!
Notes:
- If you don’t want to use almonds for the ‘ricotta’, you can use cashews instead.
- Instead of chickpeas, you can also use white beans, such as butter or cannellini beans.
- We usually use a 570g (20oz) jar of chickpeas, which is about 400g in drained weight. If you can’t find jarred chickpeas, you can simply use two 400g (14oz) tins of chickpeas instead.
- The almond ‘ricotta’ will keep well for 2-3 days in the fridge, just be sure to store it in an air-tight container.
Things to know:
- When you add the cherry tomatoes on top of the orzo, it’s really important you also spoon over all of the leftover juices from the tray. These juices will add much-needed acidity to the dish, which will help balance all of the flavours.
- ‘Orzo’ actually translates as ‘barley’ in Italian. In Italy, what we know as ‘orzo’ pasta is actually referred to as ‘risoni’ pasta.
- The creamy almond ‘ricotta’ really helps to contrast the tangy tomato orzo. But if you prefer, you can leave this out or substitute it with shop-bought vegan cream cheese or crème fraîche.
Roasted Tomato + Chickpea Orzo With Almond ‘Ricotta’
Ingredients
- 1 large garlic bulb
- olive oil
- 400 g cherry tomatoes, halved
- 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- salt + pepper
- 1 litre vegetable stock
- 3 tbsp tomato purée
- 4 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 300 g orzo
- 1 x 570 g jar of chickpeas, drained (see notes)
- 1 handful of fresh basil
For the almond ‘ricotta’:
- 140 g blanched almonds
- 1 lemon, juice only
- 180 ml unsweetened plant-based milk
- 1 tbsp nutritional yeast
Method
- Preheat the oven to 200°C fan / 425°F.
- Slice the head off the garlic bulb to expose the cloves, then add the bulb to a roasting tray cut-side-up. Drizzle the exposed cloves with olive oil, then wrap the bulb with baking paper and roast for 30 minutes.
- For the ‘ricotta’, add the almonds to a bowl and cover with hot water from a kettle, then set aside for later.
- Remove the tray from the oven and push the garlic bulb to one corner. Add the halved cherry tomatoes to the tray, then pour the balsamic vinegar and 1 tablespoon of olive oil over the tomatoes, along with pinches of salt and pepper. Mix well, then return everything to the oven for 12-14 minutes at 180°C fan / 400°F or until the cherry tomatoes begin to burst.
- Pour the stock into a large saucepan, followed by the tomato purée and nutritional yeast. Stir, then bring to a gentle boil and add the orzo. Gently boil the orzo for 9-11 minutes or until almost al dente, stirring regularly to prevent the orzo sticking to the bottom of the pan. Note: add extra hot water from a kettle, if necessary.
- Next, make the almond ‘ricotta’. Drain the almonds from earlier and add them to a high-speed blender, along with the lemon juice, plant-based milk, nutritional yeast and a pinch of salt. Blend until it’s thick and smooth, like ricotta (add a splash of water, if necessary), then set aside.
- Remove the tray from the oven for a second time. Leaving the cherry tomatoes in the tray, take out the garlic bulb and discard the baking paper. Squeeze out the soft garlic cloves onto a chopping board (hold the bulb with a tea towel if it’s too hot). Finely chop the garlic cloves, then add them to the orzo pasta, followed by the chickpeas. Finely chop most of the basil (save a handful of leaves for topping), then stir the chopped basil into the orzo pasta and cook for a minute.
- Give the pasta a taste and season with more salt and pepper, if necessary. Then add the pasta to bowls and top with the roasted cherry tomatoes, along with all the leftover juices from the tray, as well as the almond ‘ricotta’, remaining basil leaves, a drizzle of olive oil and an extra pinch of pepper. Enjoy!
1 Comment
Needs more seasonings. Orzo cooked in stock with some salt is not enough. Try smoked paprika or lemon zest.