Marry Me Orzo

Marry Me Orzo

This one has a name for a reason. Marry Me Orzo is the kind of dish you make once and immediately start thinking about when you can make it again. Roasted cherry tomatoes, caramelised red onion and a whole bulb of slow-roasted garlic come together into this incredible, deeply savoury sauce that coats every little piece of orzo perfectly. It's rich, it's creamy, it's got that sun-dried tomato depth that just makes everything taste more intense and delicious. Honestly, make this on a weeknight and it'll feel like a proper occasion.

Cook: 35 min
Serves 4

Before You Start

  • Preheat oven to 180°C
  • Roasting tin
  • Food processor
  • Large skillet with lid
  • Vegetable stock prepared

Ingredients

  • 2 tbsp sundried tomato oil (from the jar)
  • 1 red onion
  • 1 bulb of garlic
  • 200g cherry tomatoes
  • 1 tsp chilli flakes
  • 6 sundried tomatoes
  • 1 tsp mixed Italian seasoning
  • 120ml plant-based cream
  • 30g nutritional yeast
  • 600ml vegetable stock
  • 500g orzo
  • 50g baby spinach
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • plant-based parmesan

Method

1

Prepare the roasting ingredients and roast

  • Peel, trim and quarter the red onion
  • Cut the sprouting end off the bulb of garlic
  • Add the red onion, cherry tomatoes and garlic bulb to the roasting tin
  • Drizzle over the sun dried tomato oil, season with salt, pepper a chilli flakes
  • Put the tin in the oven and roast for 20-30 minutes until everything is well roasted
2

Make the sauce

  • Prepare the veg stock
  • Remove the tin from the oven and leave to cool to room temperature
  • Transfer the contents of the pan to the food processor along with the sun dried tomatoes, italian seasoning, plant based cream (save a little for dressing at the end) and the nutritional yeast
  • Blend until smooth
3

Cook the orzo

  • Pour the sauce into the skillet and bring to a simmer over a medium heat
  • Pour the orzo over the sauce and fold through
  • Pour the veg stock into the dish, stir through, reduce the heat to a very low simmer, put the lid on and simmer for 10-12 minute, stirring occasionally, until the orzo is tender (add a little more water if the orzo is taking a while to cook)
4

Finish and serve

  • Taste and season to perfection with salt, pepper and more chilli if you like
  • Add the spinach to the pan and fold through until just wilted
  • Drizzle over the reserved cream, a little olive oil, a few basil leaves, a little grated plant based parmesan (if using) and serve immediately

Tips & Variations

  • Don't rush the roast: Give the tomatoes and garlic a full 25-30 minutes in the oven. You want proper colour and caramelisation on everything. That's where all the flavour lives.
  • Sun-dried tomato oil is key: Use the oil straight from the jar of sun-dried tomatoes to drizzle over before roasting. It's already packed with flavour and it makes a real difference to the final sauce.
  • Make it saucier: Orzo absorbs liquid quickly, so if it's looking a bit thick when you're finishing the dish just splash in a little more stock and stir it through. It loosens up beautifully.

Why This Works

The trick here is roasting the garlic as a whole bulb. It goes sweet and almost jammy inside, and when you squeeze it out into the sauce it gives you this mellow, rich garlic flavour that you just can't get from raw or even fried garlic. Combined with the blistered cherry tomatoes and sun-dried tomato oil, the sauce basically builds itself. That oil is doing a lot of heavy lifting, so don't skip it.