“This is nice rice,” said Josh, the first time I served up a dish of Orzo.

“Actually, it’s pasta,” I said.

“No it’s not”, said Ollie. “It’s definitely rice”.

“No, really, it’s pasta. It’s called Orzo. It just looks like rice.”

“So it’s Rasta!” declared Josh.

Orzo has endless possibilities and is brilliant as an accompaniment when you need an easy serving of carbs. Here are just a couple of examples.

Orzo with spring vegetables

First up, a compilation of leftovers: Orzo with grilled baby courgettes, spring onions, a drizzle of rapeseed oil and a squeeze of lemon, all tossed together with a handful of basil and some black pepper. Simply cook the orzo according to the pack instructions (it’s really important not to overcook or you’ll land up with a soggy, starchy mess), and stir together with the rest of the ingredients. This was delicious served with barbecued chicken and a fresh green salad.

Carb-count: 29g carbs per 100g cooked orzo

Orzo with meatballs

Here’s another really easy dish, this time all-in-one pasta, veggies and meatballs with a stir-in sauce, perfect for after work and ready in 15 minutes.

Ingredients (serves 5):

1 pack of 20 beef meatballs

1 jar Sacla Intenso tomato & rocket stir-in sauce

Any vegetables you want to use up – I used broccoli

250g dried orzo

Method:

Again, just cook the Orzo according to pack instructions, while also grilling the meatballs and steaming the vegetables. When the Orzo’s cooked, drain, rinse and stir through the jar of Sacla sauce. Drain the vegetables and stir them through too, and finally, add the grilled meatballs.

Carb-count: 55g carbs per portion (based on 180g serving of cooked Orzo plus 4 meatballs)