Pesto Orzotto with Aubergines

What a beautiful-looking dish this is. If you fancy having a vegan meal tonight, this is perfect. An orzotto is basically a low-maintenance version of a risotto: it has the same gorgeous creamy texture, but it cooks in a fraction of the time. A risotto can sometimes be hard to get right but you can't go wrong with an orzotto.

Great

% Daily Values based on a 2,000 calorie diet

Step 1

Stick the kettle on, as you'll need hot vegetable stock soon.

Step 2

Add 1 tablespoon of the oil and the garlic to a frying pan and cook over a medium heat until the garlic wiggles and is fragrant. Throw in the orzo and mix well to coat in the garlic oil, then add 400ml of the hot vegetable stock and bring to the boil. Stir regularly and keep adding more stock every time the orzo has absorbed the previous batch until the orzo is creamy and cooked through.

Step 3

In the meantime, in another pan, heat the remaining olive oil and fry the aubergine until golden. Add the tomatoes after around 8 minutes of cooking to warm through.

Step 4

Back to the orzotto. Stir through half of the pesto with the lemon zest and juice. Season well to taste.

Step 5

To serve, top with the aubergine and tomato mixture, a little dollop of the remaining pesto, the basil sprigs and chopped nuts.