Courgette, Broad Bean and Feta Orzotto

Cut the red onion in half through the root, peel and chop into roughly ½cm pieces. Cut the the top and bottoms of the courgette and then in half lengthways, cut each half into four long strips then chop into 1cm chunks. Peel and grate the garlic (or use a garlic press if you have one). Pull the mint leaves off their stalks and roughly chop.

Slit each sausage in half and discard the skin. Roll the sausage meat into meatballs (five per person) and leave to the side.

Put your onion in a large frying pan with a drizzle of oil on medium heat. Cook for 4 mins then add your courgette, a good pinch of salt and a good grind of black pepper. Cook for another 6-7 mins before adding your garlic. Stir together and cook for 1 minute, then pour in the orzo. Stir until your orzo is well coated in the garlicky oil, then pour in the water (as specified in the ingredient list above) and the vegetable stock pot.

Bring to the boil, stirring to dissolve your stock pot, then turn the heat down to low and simmer away (don’t let it boil rapidly!), for 10 mins, or until your orzo is ‘al dente’ and the liquid has been absorbed. Tip: ‘Al dente’ simply means the pasta is cooked through but has a tiny bit of firmness left in the middle. Stir every couple of mins to ensure it doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan! Tip: If all the liquid has been absorbed and the orzo is not quite cooked, just add 50ml of water and keep cooking (repeat this if you need to).

While your orzotto is cooking, add your meatballs to a frying pan on medium heat with a drizzle of oil. Cook for 8-9 mins until they are browned and cooked through. Tip: The meatballs are cooked when no longer pink in the middle. Remove the pan from the heat.

When your orzotto is 4 mins from being ready, add your broad beans to the pan to cook for the last 4 mins, then remove the pan from the heat. Crumble the feta into the pan along with your mint and stir together. Taste and add some salt and pepper if you feel it needs it.

Squeeze some lemon juice into a bowl with a drizzle of oil, a pinch of salt and a good grind of black pepper. Add the pea shoots to the bowl and toss together.