Love a margherita pizza? Love pasta? This is your dish!
With Scotch beef meatballs and a deliciously spiced sauce, this one-pot meal couldn’t be easier.
So grab the ingredients below and get ready to cook up a hearty, delicious Italian-style meal.
Scotch beef margherita meatball orzo pasta
(Serves 4)
Ingredients
- 350g lean Scotch beef steak mince
- 400g can cooked cannellini beans, drained
- 2 tsp dried oregano
- 4 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
- Pinch of sea salt and ground black pepper
- 2 tbsp Scottish rapeseed oil
- 225g cherry tomatoes
- 225g orzo pasta
- 500g passata
- 500ml reduced salt beef or vegetable stock
- 210g reduced fat mozzarella
Method
- Put the beef in a bowl. Crush ¼ of the beans with a fork and add to the mince along with the oregano, half the garlic and some seasoning. Mix well then shape into 3-4 balls. Cover and chill until required.
- Heat half the oil in a frying pan and gently fry the meatballs, turning for
10 minutes until browned all over. - Stir in the cherry tomatoes and cook, stirring for 2 more minutes, then turn off the heat, cover with foil and put to one side.
- Meanwhile, heat the remaining oil in a deep-frying pan and gently fry the garlic for 30 seconds, to soften without browning.
- Stir in the orzo, passata, stock and some seasoning. Orzo pasta cooks a bit like rice and absorbs the cooking liquid as it cooks. If the mixture becomes too dry before the pasta is cooked properly, stir in a little more water. (If you want to make this recipe with other pasta, you will need to cook it separately and then add to the sauce once the sauce has been reduced.)
- Bring to the boil, stirring, then simmer for about 8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the pasta and sauce begins to reduce – you should be able to see more pasta than sauce at this stage.
- Add the meatballs, cherry tomatoes and pan juices along with remaining beans to the pasta. Stir well, bring back to a simmer and continue to cook gently for a further 3-4 minutes until everything is cooked through.
- Sprinkle the top with mozzarella, cover and allow to stand for 5 minutes to melt the cheese.
- To serve, garnish with fresh basil and serve straight from the pan accompanied with rocket and red onion salad, dressed with balsamic vinegar if liked.
Tip: You can use any canned bean for this recipe, just if they mash up well. Try the recipe with lean minced pork as an alternative, or as in many Italian recipes, a combination of beef and pork.
For other great recipe ideas, check out our midweek meal archive.
