a classic Italian side dish that is robust enough to serve as a vegetarian main dish on its own. Warm or chilled serving options are available.
| Prep Time: | 10 mins |
| Cook Time: | 15 mins |
| Total Time: | 25 mins |
| Servings: | 2 |
| Yield: | 2 servings |
Ingredients
- ⅔ cup orzo pasta
- ½ cup chopped sun-dried tomatoes
- ½ cup pitted kalamata olives
- ½ cup pesto
- ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 tablespoon olive oil, or to taste
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook orzo in the boiling water, stirring occasionally until cooked through but firm to the bite, about 11 minutes. Drain.
- Mix orzo pasta, tomatoes, and olives together in a large bowl. Pour pesto over pasta mixture and stir to coat. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese over the pasta mixture; stir. Drizzle olive oil over the salad and stir to achieve your preferred moisture level.
- Plum tomatoes can be used in place of sundried tomatoes.
- Use any black olives you wish in place of Kalamatas.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 828 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 65 g |
| Cholesterol | 38 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 6 g |
| Protein | 30 g |
| Saturated Fat | 13 g |
| Sodium | 1618 mg |
| Sugars | 8 g |
| Fat | 51 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
Outstanding dish – the flavor combinations are incredible – I could easily make a meal of this by itself …
Delicious! I usually add red onion & cucumber to it to serve as a both a pasta & veggie side dish for dinner
absolutely delicious! make sure you don’t overcook the orzo (like me!) because it’ll get somewhat mushy. it didn’t look very pretty (my fault) but it was sooooo good!
I hate it when a recipe looks amazing and I don’t have all the ingredients. I didn’t have anything on hand to make pesto so I used Primal Kitchen Greek dressing made with avocado oil. Seasoned more with Greek Seasoning and California Seasoned Pepper. I also added a chopped tomato and some chopped green onions. I only tasted it warm and thought it tasted awesome. Serving tomorrow when the kids come to visit.
We loved it! I also put sliced green olives and capers on the side for those that wanted them. I personally liked it that way but my sister doesn’t like capers so she ate just the basic recipe and really liked it! I had enough for lunch the next day and it was still wonderful!
So yummy and delicious, I doubled the recipe for leftovers. Instead of Parmesan cheese, I substituted feta and skipped the drizzling of the olive oil at the end because pesto has oil in it already. This will definitely be a staple as it’s simple and very easy to make.
I left out the olives and I revised the recipe to accommodate the needs of my family. I doubled some ingredients and lessened others. The pesto and the parmesan cheese make this dish.
It was ok. My older son liked it a lot, but I probably won’t be making it again. Just not my taste.
Pretty amazing. I cut up all the olives and tomatoes along with adding chicken. Yummy!
I thought this was a great combination of flavors. Next time I’ll slice the olives in halves.
This was excellent. Unfortunately I didn’t notice that it only made two servings. I will make it again soon and double the recipe.
This was a huge hit at a friend’s barbecue. Made it with homemade pesto, black olives, and romano instead of parmesan. Everyone loved it. We will definitely be making this again. This would also be great as a hot side dish.
This was great! Super easy and delicious! Definitely a keeper
Great combination of flavors, simple and quick, too! Hot or cold, this is a hit for a crowd.
Took this as a side dish for brats at a barbecue and it was a hit. I doubled the recipe. Hostess kept some of the leftovers, so I know she liked it too. Delicious!
Delicious! I made this to serve cold for lunch today, and it really hit the spot. I used homemade pesto and black olives in place of the kalamata b/c I didn’t have any. Full of flavor! This would go great w/ chicken, which is what I’m planning on making with next time. A definite keeper~YUM! Thanks for sharing. 🙂