Orzo Veggie Bake

 

I've been eating way too much meat lately, so I started hunting for recipes that only contained vegetables. Well, in this case, vegetables and pasta. I knew that I also wanted an easy recipe. This was all of those things! I love that I didn't need to pre-cook the pasta. I was able to make this main dish using only a large oven safe nonstick skillet and a baking sheet to roast the veggies.

This dish was so full of flavor from the roasted eggplant and sautéed garlic, carrots, celery and onions! And I loved the addition of fresh tomatoes. It was a nice contrast to the roasted and sautéed veggies. This was comfort food that I could feel good about! So hearty! I served this as a main course with a salad, but this could also be served as a side dish to any beef, chicken or seafood main dish.

I found this recipe here and tweaked it slightly. But it is fine as written, so please check out the original recipe also. I'm writing the recipe as I made it.



Orzo Veggie Bake

INGREDIENTS:
2 very large eggplants - peeled and cut into 3/4 " cubes
salt and pepper
2 Tbls. olive oil
2 medium carrots - peeled and cut into 1/4" slices
2 ribs celery - cut into 1/4" slices
1 very large onion - chopped
5 large cloves garlic - minced
1 lb. orzo pasta - uncooked
2 Tbls. tomato paste
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
1 can vegetable broth
3/4 cup water 
1 cup shredded mozzarella
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
4 medium tomatoes - chopped
1/4 cup fresh chopped parsley - garnish

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Place the cubed eggplant on the baking sheet and sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper and some olive oil. Spread out the eggplant in a single layer.
Roast uncovered on center rack until well cooked, about 20-25 minutes.
In the meantime, heat a very large oven safe nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add 2 Tbls olive oil. When the oil is hot add the carrots, celery, onions and garlic. Cook while stirring for about 5 minutes or until veggies are tender. Then stir in the orzo and tomato paste. Cook for about a minute then remove from the heat. Add the oregano, mozz, parmesan, tomatoes, roasted eggplant, 1 tsp. kosher salt, 1/4 tsp. black pepper, vegetable broth and water. Mix well.
Cover skillet and bake at 400 degrees F for 20 minutes. Then remove cover and bake another 20 minutes. Let rest about 10 minutes before serving. Sprinkle with chopped fresh parsley before serving.
This serves 6-8 as a main dish.

This post belongs to My Recipe Journey food blog.