Meatballs with orzo from At My Table: A Celebration of Home Cooking (page 54) by Nigella Lawson

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minced beef
Parmesan cheese
onions
dried oregano
parsley
orzo pasta
tinned tomatoes
red vermouth
breadcrumbs

Where’s the full recipe - why can I only see the ingredients?

Always check the publication for a full list of ingredients. An Eat Your Books index lists the main ingredients and does not include 'store-cupboard ingredients' (salt, pepper, oil, flour, etc.) - unless called for in significant quantity.

Notes about this recipe

AndieEats on April 19, 2021

Though I admittedly made some changes to fit, it was a perfectly serviceable, rather low effort weeknight meal. Used some freezer meatballs left from a previous meal, two cans of diced tomatoes plus a little extra leftover pasta sauce from the weekend, an extra pinch of red chile flakes, a couple other dried seasonings, and one diced up zucchini. Still used the full amount of water, and added that gradually as the pasta cooked. It had a tendency to stick to the bottom, especially at the beginning. Needed to fiddle with the heat a bit, as it took longer than the 15 minutes, and keep stirring every couple minutes.
DinahDough on March 20, 2021

As other people have said, you do need to be careful with the orzo sticking, it helps to stir it frequently especially when you first add it. I didn't use the full amount of liquid stated, I started with about half and added more when needed and it gave a nice, thick sauce with plenty of flavour. I found the orzo needed about half an hour to cook properly.
Ro_ on December 03, 2020

I agree with the other comments insofar as, a) it's not hugely exciting in terms of the overall taste, and b) the orzo sticks to the bottom massively so needs a lot of scraping and stirring. It also needs a lot of seasoning to bring it to life. However, I really enjoyed the textures of this dish - the slippery orzo in the sauce - and for a one pot, weeknight dinner I might make it again.
southerncooker on April 20, 2020

Trying to follow a recipe during covid can be interesting. I did an online pick up order from Walmart with Orzo and Italian parsley on it. Picked up order and told out of parsley so they omitted it. No orzo so they subsituted ditilini. I forged ahead with the recipe using ditilini and dried parsley. I was a little disappointed since I didn't have orzo but it turned out pretty good. I liked that once you mix and roll the meatballs everything ends up in one pot. You cook the meatballs in the sauce.
Foodycat on June 12, 2018

As the other note said, this is not particularly exciting comfort food. Even though I did use 275g orzo, it was very soupy at the end, and although I stirred frequently it stuck to the bottom like glue.
Jane on October 28, 2017

This isn’t anything very exciting but it’s a perfectly OK weeknight dinner. It’s comfort food - pasta, tomato sauce and meatballs. I found the sauce was too liquid at the end - very soupy. Admittedly my orzo packet was 250g rather than 275g but it still was way off. I’d add just 750ml of water and add more if needed.