Spicy Orzo & Purple Sprouting Broccoli

A one pot wonder to keep your taste buds tingling during these weird times.

I've loved orzo for quite some time. It's one of my favourite pastas to cook with, it goes well in soups and stews to add a bit of extra bulk. But a lot of people haven't heard of it or used it. One of the best combinations I've found is some blitzed up beetroot & lemon juice, chunks of creamy goats cheese all folded through cooked orzo, heaven on a plate and so comforting! Now, if like me, you hate when bloggers bang on and on about the origins of the recipe and go all self-indulgent on you for paragraphs at a time, about how this recipe was inspired by their time spent in Tuscany blah blah blah, then scroll down to the bottom for the recipe, as I'm about to do just that (kind of)!

This recipe was actually born out of leftovers. Last night's beaut of a roast chicken to be precise. In my bid to continually try and reduce my food waste (especially at the moment) I stripped the bird (so to speak) of the left over meat. I then popped the carcass and the leftover bones into the slow cooker, added in some rough chopped onions, carrots, garlic and parsley along with some generous sprinklings of star anise, pepper corns, cloves and topped up with water. I left it on low over night and the smell this morning was unreal, I could literally smell it from bed! Definitely something I'd recommend doing with your leftover carcasses, especially with a little extra time on your hands. You can use the stock for homemade ramens, for risotto, warming chicken broths, all super good for our immune systems right now. Any leftover you can freeze for when you need it again. The rest of the ingredients I thankfully had in the cupboard and off I went.

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You'll only need one pot for this and it's ready to eat in less than half an hour. Don't worry if you haven't made fresh stock, just use whatever cubes you've got in the cupboard. Cheese wise just use what you've got in the fridge, I had cheddar and it did the trick.

Ingredients you'll need which will feed about 4 hungry souls:

• 1 tbsp olive oil

• 1/2 onion roughly diced

• 3 cloves garlic finely diced

• 3-4 handfuls of purple sprouting broccoli / 1/4 head of normal broccoli rough chopped

• Your chicken of choice. I'm using about 200g of leftover roast chicken from last night shredded up. You could also use some thighs, breast or drumstick meat. Cook this first if you don't have leftovers.

• 250ml chicken stock

• 170g uncooked orzo pasta (if you can't find this get yourself some small pasta pieces, or some rice).

• 400g chopped tomatoes

• Fresh/dried basil

• 1 tsp chilli flakes

• Salt & Pepper

• Some cheese for grating (whatever is in the fridge!)

How to concoct the sexiness in your mouth:

1. Place a large pan on a medium heat. Once the pan is hot add your onions as well as a good sprinkle of salt. The salt will help draw out the moisture from the onions and stop them catching or burning. Cook for 2-3 mins until they start to soften then add your garlic and cook for another 1 minute.

2. Add in your purple sprouting broccoli and coat in the oil. Sauté for 2-3 mins until it starts to soften slightly.

3. Add in your chilli flakes, orzo, chopped tomatoes, chicken stock and some black pepper. Bring to the boil and then simmer with a lid on for about 15 mins. Stir occasionally to ensure orzo isn't sticking to the bottom of the pan. If you're using rice you may need to adjust this cooking time to slightly longer and add a bit more stock, but I'll leave that to you to test out!

4. About 3 mins before the end add in your shredded chicken and basil and stir through.

5. Remove from the heat, season and top with a little grated cheese!

Give it a try, I'd love to see you guys tag me in any of your creations during this period. Stay safe everyone and happy cooking! x