Orzo pasta salads rule, and this one can be served hot or cold, making it a great dish to take on a picnic or round to someone’s house. The key to this delicious orzo salad is the quick pickled courgettes. After being lightly fried, they soften and easily absorb their acidic marinade, giving them a pleasing tang.
Find more interesting ideas with salmon fillets here.
Ingredients
- 2 salmon fillets
- 2 tsp harissa
- 100g orzo
- 1 courgette
- Extra-virgin olive oil, to fry and drizzle
- 1 tbsp white wine vinegar
- Finely grated zest 1 lemon, plus half its juice
- ¼ bunch dill, finely chopped
- ¼ bunch mint, finely chopped
- 30g pitted black olives, sliced
- 40g feta
- 1 tbsp toasted flaked almonds
Method
- Heat the oven to 180°C fan/gas 6 and bring a large pan of salted water to the boil. Put the salmon fillets in a small baking dish and spread the harissa over them. Put the salmon in the oven and the orzo in the water and cook both for 10 minutes.
- Meanwhile, put a large frying pan over a high heat and finely slice the courgette into thin discs. Add a dash of oil to the pan followed by the courgettes and, in batches, cook for a few minutes on each side until golden and lightly charred. Once all the courgettes are cooked, put them in a bowl with the vinegar, lemon zest and half the juice and herbs. Season with salt and give them a good mix, then set aside for at least 10 minutes.
- Once the orzo is cooked, drain it and run it under cold water to prevent it sticking together. Toss the orzo with the courgettes, then add the olives and crumble in the feta. Transfer to a serving platter, top with the salmon and sprinkle with the toasted almonds and a final drizzle of oil.
Nutrition
- 569kcals Calories
- 35g (6.7g saturated) Fat
- 42g Protein
- 19g (2.5g sugars) Carbs
- 4.6g Fibre
- 1.1g Salt
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Reviews
We loved this! No complaints on orzo or nuts. Super easy and off the charts in taste. Thankyou @deliciousmagazine 😍
That’s what we like to hear! Thanks for your lovely feedback.
Right up front, I want to say my husband and I loved this and will have it again. I do have a few thoughts though. Para 2 is a little confusing. It appears to tell you to use half the lemon juice and herbs when marinating the courgettes, but there’s nothing later to tell you to use the rest. I like orzo when it’s absorbed a lot of liquid (a lot of orzo dishes are even better next day) and don’t like underdone fish (or meat) so I cooked the fish for 20 minutes and the orzo for 15. It would be nice if there was a way for the orzo to be room temp, rather than cold from tap water; I think next time I might put it straight in with the courgettes to cool. I did put the courgettes on to marinate early (in the morning of the day we ate) and that seemed well worth it, as they soaked up all the liquid (which included all the lemon juice; see my comment about para 2). We’re not fans of nuts, so I skipped those. Anyway, as I say, we did love it and will make it again.
Hi Alison. Thank you for your feedback! We are glad you liked the dish. Sorry about the second step being confusing – the other half of the lemon juice doesn’t get used in this recipe, so you can save it for a future dish or see our article on how to use up citrus here. You can enjoy the dish hot or cold, so it sounds like a good idea to put the pasta straight in with the courgettes if you prefer to have it room temperature. Thanks again!
Easy to make and delicious hot or cold. I made extra in the hope of left overs for lunch the next day. I need to make more next time!
We’re so glad you enjoyed the recipe Nicola!
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