Lemony Leek Orzo
Orzo is underrated as a pasta shape that is short cut and shaped like rice. I love this orzo recipe with lemon and lashings of olive oil, and the addition of bursts of flavour in the leeks, mushrooms and tomatoes.
Ready in under 20 minutes and with simple ingredients that make it affordable, totally vegan as well as healthy.
This recipe is very easily adaptable to the vegetables that in season, and has the addition of protein in the beans.
What you need to make lemony leek orzo
- Olive oil
- Leeks
- Chestnut mushrooms (and/or cherry tomatoes)
- Garlic
- Orzo
- Peas
- Vegan crème fraîche (I use Oatly)
- Lemon
- Cannelini or butter beans
- Chilli flakes
- Basil
- Vegan parmesan (I use Violife’s Parmesan style cheese)
How to make lemony leek orzo
Start by chopping up your ingredients. Slice the leek, finely chop the garlic (or use a garlic press like me if you’re lazy), quarter the mushrooms or half the cherry tomatoes. A hack for cleaning your leaks is to chop the ends and slice them in half lengthways first, so that you can get any dirt from underneath the leaves (otherwise it always seems to get stuck in there!).
Then add the leeks along with the garlic into a large pan with olive oil over a medium heat and fry these off until softened. This will take around 10 minutes.
Once your leek and garlic have reduce, next you can add in the mushrooms (and/or tomatoes if you’re using them) and cook these for a few more minutes as they reduce. Always give mushrooms their time to cook down and reduce as they taste so much better this way!
While your veg are cooking, put the orzo on to cook in a large pan of salted water (cook for as long as the package recommends). Add the peas in with the orzo for the last couple of minutes of cooking and then drain. Make sure to save around 100ml of pasta water.
Next, now your veg is all nicely cooked, you can add the remaining ingredients of butter or cannelini beans, vegan crème fraîche, zest and juice of a lemon, a sprinkle of chilli flakes to bring out all of the flavour, a few pieces of freshly torn basil and then season to taste.
You can also add in vegan parmesan here if you’re using it. You can alternatively use nutritional yeast in replacement for vegan parmesan as it gives a nice cheesy flavour. Just a tablespoon will be plenty.
Finally, pour in your cooked orzo, peas and the pasta water to the pan, and drizzle in some olive oil. Miz everything together to form a delicious creamy and lemony orzo.
Finish by dishing up topped with extra fresh basil, vegan parmesan and black pepper! Best enjoyed al fresco!
It works beautifully as a part of a dinner spread, or alongside a my garlic dough balls or courgette salad. Mmm delicious!
More simple pasta recipes like this
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Lemony Leek Orzo
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 leeks (washed and sliced)
- 100 g chestnut mushrooms (roughly chopped (can swap for 8 cherry tomatoes chopped in half))
- 2 garlic cloves (finely chopped)
- 350 g orzo
- 75 g peas
- 200 ml vegan crème fraîche ((I use Oatly, but could also be subbed for vegan soft cheese or plain soy yoghurt))
- 1/2 lemon (zest and juice of )
- 400 g cannellini or butter beans (drained and rinsed)
- 1 pinch chilli flakes
- 1 handful fresh basil (torn)
- salt and black pepper
- vegan parmesan* ((I use Violife Parmesan style cheese))
Instructions
- In a large frying pan drizzle in the olive oil over medium heat. Add the leeks and garlic and cook for about 10 minutes until fragrant and softened. Add in the mushrooms (and/or mushrooms) and cook for another 5 minutes until reduced.
- Meanwhile, bring a pan of salted water to the boil and add in the orzo. Cook according to the packet instructions. Add the peas for the last couple of minutes. Drain the orzo and peas, saving 100ml of pasta water.
- Into the leeks, mushrooms (and/or tomatoes) and garlic, mix through the vegan creme fraiche, drained beans, lemon juice and zest, chilli flakes, fresh basil and season to taste. Optionally also grate in some vegan parmesan.
- Finally stir through the orzo with a drizzle of olive oil, and if needed, add a little of the pasta water to loosen. Serve with extra fresh basil, black pepper and vegan parmesan.
Video
Notes
- Some easy swaps for the veg in this recipe, could be with courgettes, shallots, asparagus, broccoli, spinach, artichokes and shallots for a change in flavour.
- You can also try other small pasta shapes instead of the orzo for something new.
Nutrition
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Don't forget to rate this recipe!
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6 comments
Valentina
5 stars!
Madeleine OliviaAuthor
Thank you!
Juliette
Delicious!
Karen
I make this at least twice a month. Wonderful, delicious recipe. Thank you
Rhiannon
Just made this. SO good!. I couldn’t find crème fraîche, so I used sour cream. Will definitely be making again.
Brooklyn
This recipe is so good! We’ve made it multiple times. We love to use zucchini instead of mushrooms.