This orzo is really great on it’s own and would be a nice vegan entree, but these sweet little meatballs make the perfect addition to this dish. I have marked this recipe as Vegan, Gluten free and vegetarian, although all together it is none of these things. The orzo is veg friendly and NOT gluten free, but the meatballs are the exact opposite. Just to clarify.
The sauce:
3 medium red peppers, blackened on the grill or in the oven, set aside to cool, peel and chop. In a large deep skillet start with a thick coating of olive oil and lightly brown 1/2 of a large yellow onion along with 2 cloves of garlic and a finely diced small jalapeño pepper. Once the onion is just brown add the chopped red peppers and either a can of stewed tomatoes or I used a handful of frozen oven roasted tomatoes I made last fall from my last garden harvest. Add about 1 cup of boiling water and S+P and let simmer on low for up to an hour.
The meatballs
In a large bowl bring together: 1/4 minced red onion, 2 cloves of garlic, 2 tbsp of pesto, about 1/2 cup chopped or crumbled feta (goat feta is what we had on hand and it was lovely) add 2 tbsp potato flour (you could use any flour but these are a nice Gluten Free meatball if you go with potato flour) Also I added 1 tbsp cold water, S+P, and 1 lb of ground local bison (which is naturally really lean). Mix by hand and roll into any size meatballs you’d like, we had sweet little tiny ones tonight and they were super cute.
Preheat the oven to 350º and once hot bake meatballs for about 18 minutes (or more if your balls are large) I used a large flat cast iron skillet to bake these on, which I happened to have really hot from grilling the peppers on, so the meat balls started with a nice sear on there way into the oven, if you don’t use this method, just flip them half way through the cook time.
Meanwhile:
Boil about 2 cups of orzo. Puree your sauce with a blender or immersion blender, and fold the cooked and drained orzo into the sauce along with a drizzle of olive oil then garnish with fresh basil, S+P and meatballs.
eating with S.O.L.E. 