One Pot Creamy Sun-Dried Tomato Beef Orzo
Raise you hand if you like one-pot meals? I mean who doesn’t?? You’re gonna love this creamy sun dried tomato beef orzo because it’s quick, easy and only requires one pot.
I’m going to set the scene for you. We just spent the entire day at the farm. First I spent the early morning at the farm feeding calves. Then, it was time to chop hay, which if you’ve ever been on a dairy farm when it’s time to chop hay you know it’s all hands on deck.
Well, our third crop of haylage is complete!
All our alfalfa is chopped at a high moisture, packed into a pile and covered with plastic and tires. The plastic and tires protect it from spoiling and we use it to feed our herd all year long.
Just about everyone HATES covering the pile (especially when it’s hot and humid), but not Lane.
The kid lives for it. Thrives. High fives all the guys. Gets right in there and grabs a tire that weighs just about as much as he does. Says things like, “Come on guys! Let’s get this pile covered!!”
I feel like he should start a business where he travels to other farms and encourages the crew to cover the pile. Everyone needs a little bit of his spirit 😂
Once we got done covering the pile it was time for calf chores, AGAIN. Spoiler – calves have to get fed twice a day, no matter how hot and humid and tired we may be from our day.
Now that you have an understanding of how our day went, you know how necessary it was to have an easy meal for dinner. One that didn’t take much for me to make, didn’t make a huge mess and was nourishing for our family after a long day.
Enter my one pot creamy sun-dried tomato beef orzo. It was the perfect meal to whip up after calf chores and spending the entire day on the farm. Not lying, the kids even ate it! Was it luck? Will they eat it again in the future? TBD. But it was a win last night and I plan on making it again.
INGREDIENTS
1 pound lean ground beef
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, optional
1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1 cup uncooked orzo pasta
1 (14 fluid ounce) can tomato sauce
1 cup beef broth
1 (60z) jar sun dried tomato pesto
1 cup heavy/whipping cream
1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
2 cups fresh baby spinach
Salt & pepper to taste
INSTRUCTIONS:
Add the ground beef to a soup pot/Dutch oven and break it up a little bit with your spoon. Let it cook, without stirring, over medium-high heat for 5-6 minutes.
Stir in the garlic, red pepper flakes, Italian seasoning, and orzo. Cook for about a minute.
Stir in the tomato sauce, beef broth, pesto,cream, orzo and seasoning. Once it starts to bubble, cover and continue cooking for 10 minutes, stirring fairly often (so the orzo doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pot). You will likely need to turn the heat down a bit.
Take the pot off the heat, stir in the parmesan and spinach, and cover the pot for about 3-5 minutes or until it has thickened up to your liking. Season with salt & pepper as needed and serve immediately.
