This is a cold-night-I-need-some-comfort-food kind of dish.
Ingredients:
½ tsp salt
1 lb ground beef, chicken or turkey
1/2 onion, finely chopped
2-4 cloves garlic, minced
1 can (14.5 ounce) garlic, basil and onion diced tomatoes
1½ cups broth
1 tsp minced fresh oregano or ½ tsp crumbled dried oregano
¼ tsp pepper
8 ounces orzo pasta, dried (1 cup)
1 (10 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed
½-¾ cup grated Parmesan cheese
Instructions:
Crumble beef into pan and cook, stirring often, until meat begins to brown, 3 to 5 minutes. Season with salt.
Reduce heat to medium, stir in onion, and continue to cook, stirring, until onion is soft but not brown, about 5 minutes. Spoon off and discard excess fat.
Add garlic, tomatoes and their liquid, broth, oregano, and pepper. Bring mixture to a boil then stir in pasta. Reduce heat, cover and simmer gently until pasta is tender to bite, 10 to 12 minutes.
Meanwhile, squeeze as much liquid as possible from spinach. Stir spinach into pasta mixture just until heated through. Serve with cheese to add to taste.
What did the family think? I knew the spinach would throw the boys off (even though they eat it ALL OF THE TIME in salads) so they had orzo pasta with pasta sauce. Hubby and I liked this dish very much. I am very much looking forward to the leftovers for lunch.
Did I change anything? I like spinach as much as the next person, but I think this might have a had a little too much. Next time I will reduce the amount just a little bit. I also only put in 1/2 an onion. The original recipe called for a whole onion.
