Orzo. I don't think enough recipes use it. I think it's great.

For those of you that might not know, Orzo is a pasta but it's shaped like little grains of rice. 

Off the top of my head I only use it in two dishes and this is one of them. 

This dish is very close to Ratatouille in appearance but has very different flavours. I think the olives and the pine nuts were my favourite here, providing little hits of flavour and textures every now and again.

Really good served with a bit of focaccia to soak up any sauce.

Serves 4

Special Equipment - Casserole Pot

Ingredients:

1 tbsp sunflower oil 

1 aubergine, roughly chopped into 2cm chunks 

1 red onion, roughly chopped 

1 courgette, roughly chopped into 2cm chunks 

1 tsp dried oregano 

½ tsp ground cinnamon 

1 x 400g can chopped tomatoes 

1 tsp harissa paste 

10 cherry tomatoes 

10 pitted green olives 

4 tbsp dried orzo (ensure egg-free) 

1 tbsp pine nuts, lightly toasted 

Small handful of flat-leaf parsley 

Sea salt

Instructions:

Heat the oil in the casserole dish, add the aubergine, then begin to brown over a medium-high heat for 4–5 minutes. 

Add the red onion, courgette, oregano and cinnamon, then cook for a further 2 minutes, stirring frequently to prevent burning. 

Pour in the chopped tomatoes and harissa, then stir through the cherry tomatoes and olives. 

Loosely place the lid on the dish, reduce the heat to low-medium and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. 

Stir in the orzo and simmer for 10 minutes. 

Remove from the heat, scatter over the pine nuts and flat-leaf parsley and season to taste with a pinch of sea salt.