• 70g piñones pasta 1 small onion 2 cloves of garlic 30g serrano ham 2 sun dried tomatoes 150ml water 3 large mushrooms 100g flat green beans 1 tbsp olive oil

This recipe is sort of a modification of the Orzo risotto recipe which I made from Nigella Lawson’s Nigelissima’s book. The problem is that right now I am on a diet so I needed something light, and I can rarely find Orzo pasta. But what I have found recently in a Spanish supermarket chain is a type of pasta called ‘Piñones’, which means pine nuts, and it is actually shaped like a pine nut, and a little bigger than a large grain of rice. I’ve tried to make a pasta risotto with this pasta before and it is a resounding success – actually better than Orzo pasta!

The result is a delicious and tasty pasta dish, a very healthy and light alternative to a risotto.

  • Finely dice and sauté on a medium heat the onion with a pinch of salt
  • Place the sundried tomatoes in a small bowl and cover with hot water from a recently boiled kettle and allow to stand and rehydrate
  • Dice the green beans and sauté with the onions
  • After a few minutes when they have began to soften add the garlic and serrano ham
  • Finely dice the mushrooms and add into the onions, mix well
  • Remove the sundried tomatoes from the water (but do not discard!), finely dice and add to the vegetables
  • Add the piñones pasta, stir well, and quickly add the liquid which you can make from adding water to the liquor from the sundried tomatoes up to the desired amount.
  • Allow to simmer gently for about 8-10 minutes at most, at which point the pasta is done.