Spinach Tomato Orzo Soup Recipe 455

Steps:

• Preheat a large dutch oven. Drizzle with olive oil. Add onions and saute until tender. Add garlic and saute for 2 - 3 minutes. Add canned tomatoes, spinach, chicken or vegetable stock and water. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to medium. Add orzo cook for 12 - 15 minutes, or until orzo is tender.

Steps:

• Pile spinach leaves in stacks 1 on top of the other. Thinly slice stacks of leaves to make spinach confetti. Pile shredded spinach into the bottom of a medium sized mixing bowl. Halve grape or cherry tomatoes with a paring knife and add them to the mixing bowl. Add the zest of 2 lemons to the bowl and save the lemons in the refrigerator to juice for another recipe. Add hot cooked and drained orzo pasta to the mixing bowl. The heat of the pasta will wilt the spinach and warm the tomatoes at the bottom of the bowl and get the juices flowing from veggies. The heat of the pasta will also release the flavor and oils in the lemon zest. Drizzle 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil over the pasta and toss to combine the veggies and orzo. Add basil and salt and pepper and toss to combine. Taste your orzo to adjust seasonings and serve.

Steps:

• Bring water and chicken broth to boil in heavy large saucepan or Dutch oven over high heat. Add lamb shanks, carrot, chopped onion, celery and bay leaf and bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer until lamb is tender, about 1 hour 20 minutes. Transfer lamb to plate and cool slightly. Remove meat from bone and cut into 1/2-inch pieces. Strain cooking liquid and reserve.
• In same pot, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add sliced onion and sauté until tender, about 6 minutes. Add reserved cooking liquid, lamb meat and orzo. Cook soup over medium heat until orzo is tender but still firm to bite, about 20 minutes. Add spinach to soup and cook until wilted, about 2 minutes. Season soup to taste with salt and pepper. (Soup can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate. Bring soup to simmer before serving.) Ladle soup into bowls. Serve, passing grated Parmesan cheese separately.