I feel slightly ashamed of the amount of food my removal men hauled across the country in their enormous van.
I blame the pandemic combined with my tendency to hoard. But now I am installed in a lovely new kitchen; I plan to really try and eat up stocks. My food bill will be LOW if I can curb my enthusiasm for hunter-gathering.
(This is not my pantry, but it’s not far off…)
I have had a Kilner jar half full of orzo for as long as I can remember, and it became the first for the chop. After sharing the list of cop shows I plan to feature in the forthcoming Cooking the Detectives book, several writer friends petitioned for the inclusion of Remington Steele.
I’d never seen this series before, so I have been watching a few episodes to see if I can weave it in. As Pierce only has two recipes on the spreadsheet, and the other includes something we can’t get in the UK – Jicama – it would have to be this one. If Pierce gets lucky, that is, and I decide Remington Steele is WORTHY.
(This is 100% what I thought a perfect man looked like back in the 1980s.)
Here’s a transcription of the recipe as a blog reader pointed out that it’s very fuzzy. Not sure why!
Pierce Brosnan’s Signature Dish – Vegetable Orzo Primavera
3 carrots, peeled
2 medium or 1 large zucchini/courgette
2 yellow summer squash
1 yellow bell pepper
1 red bell pepper
1 onion, thinly sliced
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon dried Italian herbs or herbes de Provence
2 teaspoons kosher salt, plus more to taste
2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste
1 pound orzo pasta
20 cherry tomatoes, halved
3/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
Preheat the oven to 450℉.
Cut the carrots, zucchini, squash, and bell peppers into thin 2-inch-long strips. On a large, heavy, foil-lined baking sheet, toss the vegetable strips, onion, oil, dried herbs, and 2 teaspoons each of salt and pepper to coat. Transfer half the vegetable mixture to another large, heavy, foil-lined baking sheet, and arrange the vegetables evenly over both sheets. Bake, stirring after the first 10 minutes, until the carrots are tender and the other vegetables begin to brown, about 20 minutes total.
Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the orzo and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender but still firm to the bite, about 9 minutes.
Drain, reserving 1 cup of the cooking liquid. In a large bowl, toss the pasta with the cooked vegetables to combine. Add the cherry tomatoes and enough of the reserved cooking liquid, 1/4 cup at a time, to moisten. Season the pasta with more salt and pepper to taste.
Transfer the pasta to bowls. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and serve.
Serves 4
I’m not going to blame Pierce for the enormous amount of orzo in this recipe, as this recipe was recreated by chef Giarda De Laurentiis for a celebrity pasta lovers book.
Actually, I’m not going to blame Giarda either, as perhaps proper Italians do eat this much orzo, but really, a pound of orzo for four people seems A LOT to me. That’s about 115g per person. Personally, I would go with Tesco’s advice. Maybe I am just not Italian enough?
I did wonder… What would Stanley Tucci do? Alas, I can’t find any Stanley recipes using orzo, but I had a nice time (as usual) browsing through photos of him on Google…
I did like the veggies in Pierce’s dish, though. In fact, I would go further and say that I loved them (possibly augmented by the fact I put loads of Parmesan on them).
I’m going to write this little formula down somewhere because usually, I roast big chunks of vegetables, but this way, cutting them all into little bits is GOOD. I didn’t measure the olive oil, I just sloshed some on, but I overdid it a bit. Next time I’ll measure.
I didn’t stir the veggies through the orzo because I knew there was NO WAY I could eat all that orzo. But all in all, this is a nice veggie dish, but watch out for orzo-wastage. I had all this left.
Let me know if you have a go at Pierce’s dish, it’s a little beauty!
