Creamy chard pesto baked orzo

whole dish view of creamy chard pesto baked orzo

Print Recipe

5 from 1 vote

A comforting pasta bake, that's both cheesy and veggie-packed.

Prep Time10

Cook Time30

Total Time40

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American

Servings:

Calories: 547kcal

Author: Caroline's Cooking

Save

Ingredients

For creamy chard pesto

3 oz chard 85g, weight without stems - about ½ bunch
¾ oz basil 20g, leaves only
1 oz almonds 30g
½ lemon zest
¼ cup creme fraiche 60g
1 oz grated parmesan 30g, plus a little more to top
¼ cup virgin olive oil 60ml (or extra virgin)

For rest of dish

1 onion small, diced
1 red pepper diced relatively small
1 zucchini courgette, diced relatively small
8 oz orzo pasta 225g
4 oz mozzarella 115g

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375F/190C.
Remove the leaves from the chard and blanche them in a pan of boiling water - cook them for around 1-2 minutes until soft and leaves darken slightly. Remove the leaves, allow to cool and drain well by squeezing out excess liquid.
While chard is cooling, heat a little olive oil in a skillet/ frying pan over a medium heat and fry the onion for a minute then add the zucchini. After another couple minutes add the red pepper.
Meanwhile cook the pasta in a pan of boiling water with a little salt until the pasta is just cooked.
While everything is cooking, squeeze out any excess liquid from the chard, roughly chop then put the chard and basil in a food processor and pulse to break up well. Then add the almonds and lemon zest, pulse again to chop and mix, then add the creme fraiche and parmesan. Finally add the olive oil in a steady stream with the food processor running and pulse until smooth and well blended together.
Once the pasta is cooked, the vegetables should be as well, so drain the pasta and add the vegetables and the sauce and mix well.
Tear/cut the mozzarella in to small pieces (see note) and add, mix through then transfer to an oven dish. You can also mix everything directly in the dish. Sprinkle some extra parmesan on top and bake for 20-30 minutes until lightly brown (20 will be slightly crisp, 30 a bit darker and more crispy, cook as long as you prefer).
Serve while still hot.

Video

Notes

I often use the small mozzarella balls for this to have less cutting - just chop in half or quarters. If you want it cheesier, you can add more and/or add some mozzarella on top as well.

Nutrition