Three-Cheese Spinach Orzo Bake

Submitted by blucoat

"This recipe is healthy and delicious. This one-dish meal is a cross between a spinach lasagna and a pizza, but with orzo rather than wide noodles or crust. I saw this recipe in "The Washington Post". It was adapted from the cookbook, "The Six O'Clock Scramble," by Aviva Goldfarb."

 

• Ready In: 45mins
• Ingredients: 10
• Serves: 6-8

ingredients

• 3⁄4 - 1 cup orzo pasta
• 1 cup tomato sauce
• 1⁄2 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 10 ounces frozen chopped spinach, thawed, excess water squeezed out
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1⁄2 cup low-fat ricotta cheese
• 1⁄4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• salt
• fresh ground black pepper
• 1⁄2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

directions

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Lightly coat a 9-inch glass pie plate with nonstick spray oil.
2. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over medium-high heat. Add the orzo and cook according to package directions. Drain and transfer to a medium bowl. Add 1/2 cup of the pasta sauce and the Parmesan cheese. Spread the mixture in the prepared pie plate.
3. In a medium bowl, add the spinach, eggs, ricotta cheese, nutmeg and salt and pepper to taste and stir to combine. Spoon the mixture evenly to cover all of the pasta. Top with the remaining 1/2 cup of the pasta sauce and sprinkle with mozzarella cheese. Bake for 30 minutes or until the cheese is slightly melted. Serve hot.

Reviews

[Frum Chef in the Ho]

This is a nice recipe because it's easy to make and cooks pretty quickly. The flavor is pretty good, too. I looked for orzo at the regular supermarket (no luck) and at the local organic store, where they had just one brand, but it wasn't kosher. So I used a pilaf mix with some orzo in it, and that seemed to do the job. I also substituted 1 oz of shredded cheddar cheese for the parmesan -- I'm sure the parmesan would be good, but it's so expensive and didn't seem necessary. Finally, don't worry about squeezing the spinach dry. I steamed it on the stove, mixed it in, and the consistency seemed just fine.