{"id":858,"date":"2023-03-08T18:12:04","date_gmt":"2023-03-08T19:12:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/brainanti.com\/?p=858"},"modified":"2023-03-13T12:14:20","modified_gmt":"2023-03-13T12:14:20","slug":"tomato-spinach-bacon-orzo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/brainanti.com\/index.php\/2023\/03\/08\/tomato-spinach-bacon-orzo\/","title":{"rendered":"Tomato, Spinach & Bacon Orzo"},"content":{"rendered":"

This tomato, spinach & bacon orzo is super hearty and loaded with so much flavour!<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

This makes the perfect dinner for a few different reasons, but the main reason is that it\u2019s so darn delicious. You get a gorgeous burst of tomato flavour, but it\u2019s also nice & creamy at the same time. Then with the smokiness from the bacon, it\u2019s all just a heck of a good time \ud83e\udd24 Follow me\u2026<\/p>\n

\"close<\/p>\n

One Pot Tomato Bacon Orzo<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

You\u2019ll want to kick off the recipe by frying the bacon. I typically keep the bacon whole at the start, remove it and dice later<\/strong> (much easier to slice cooked bacon than it is to slice raw bacon!). This way the bacon can keep a little bit of texture, instead of cooking with the sauce and turning soft.<\/p>\n

What kind of bacon should I use?<\/em><\/h3>\n

I recommend using streaky bacon<\/strong>. Reason being is you can then render down all the fat and use it to fry the onion and garlic. Not a huge issue if you\u2019ve only got regular bacon. I usually go for unsmoked bacon, but if you prefer smoked then go for that!<\/p>\n

Starting low \u2018n\u2019 slow<\/h3>\n

I recommend adding the bacon to the pan with the heat off, then turning it to a medium. This way you can render down the fat without burning the meat. Don\u2019t be tempted to crank up the heat \u2013 you need to work for that liquid gold!<\/p>\n

Process shots: add bacon to pan (photo 1), fry then remove (photo 2), fry onion (photo 3), fry garlic (photo 4), fry tomato puree (photo 5), add orzo (photo 6).<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\"6<\/p>\n

Tomato Orzo with Spinach<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

Once you\u2019ve added the orzo, you can go straight in with the stock and cook the orzo in the same pan. This, in my opinion, is a far superior method to cooking the orzo separately for a few different reasons:<\/p>\n