Taste Magazine
Login/Register
Menu
  • Home
  • Recipes
    • Breakfast
    • Lunch
    • Dinner
    • Starters
    • Mains
    • Desserts
    • Drinks
    • View all
  • Ingredients
    • Avocado
    • Apples
    • Beetroot
    • Broccoli
    • Cabbage
    • Chicken thighs
    • Mushrooms
    • Rice
    • View all
  • Dishes
    • South African
    • Braai
    • Hot dogs
    • Milk tart
    • Pasta
    • Plant-based
    • Quiche
    • View all
  • Occasions
    • Birthdays
    • Ramadan
    • Eid
    • Easter
    • Pesach
    • Diwali
    • Hanukkah
    • Christmas
    • New Year’s Eve
  • Popular
    • South African
    • Air fryer
    • Braai
    • Five-ingredients or less
    • 30 minutes or less
    • Great Value
  • Win
    • Competitions
    • Competition Winners
  • Culture
    • Articles
    • How To
    • Columns
    • Glossary
  • WList™ great value hub
  • Login
  • WCellar
  • Contact Us
Editor’s picks
Chicken-and-radish stew
Chicken recipes

Chicken-and-radish stew

35 minutes
Coconut and ginger sweet potato soup
Beans recipes

Coconut and ginger sweet potato soup

25 minutes
Tuna-and-fennel pasta
Canned food

Tuna-and-fennel pasta

20 minutes
  • Home
  • recipe-guide
  • Root vegetable recipes
  • Aliums
Kale and leek bake
Aliums

Kale and leek bake

20 minutes
ClemenGold-roasted fennel and leeks
Aliums

ClemenGold-roasted fennel and leeks

45 minutes
Christmas stuffing
Aliums

Christmas stuffing

20 minutes
Slaphakskeentjies
Aliums

Slaphakskeentjies

45 minutes
Pickled bean salad
Aliums

Pickled bean salad

Green fridge clean-up pie
Aliums

Green fridge clean-up pie

35 minutes
Onion, mint and chilli relish
Aliums

Onion, mint and chilli relish

Toum (garlic sauce)
Aliums

Toum (garlic sauce)

Slaphakskeentjies (sweet-and-sour onions)
Aliums

Slaphakskeentjies (sweet-and-sour onions)

55 minutes
Isinkwa sommbila with onion-and-chive butter
Aliums

Isinkwa sommbila with onion-and-chive butter

20 minutes
Gnocchi with crispy pancetta and creamy shallots
Aliums

Gnocchi with crispy pancetta and creamy shallots

20–25 minute
One-pot buttery orzo with leeks, baby marrows and Parmesan
Aliums

One-pot buttery orzo with leeks, baby marrows and Parmesan

25 minutes
Load more
  • Taste Magazine
  • shop online at woolworths. Shop Now
© 2025 Woolworths holdings limited. All rights strictly reserved.
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms & Conditions
  • New Media
Please login or register to favourite a recipe.
Login/Register

One-pot buttery orzo with leeks, baby marrows and Parmesan

By Ilse van der Merwe
6
Easy
10-15 minutes
25 minutes

Ingredients

  • 3 T butter, plus extra
  • 1 small bunch leeks (about 200 g), white part only, finely sliced
  • 2–3 cloves garlic, finely grated
  • about 300 g baby marrows, roughly grated or shredded
  • 3–4 sprigs fresh thyme, woody stalks discarded
  • 3 cups chicken or vegetable stock
  • 2 cups milk
  • 500 g dried orzo pasta
  • sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
  • 1 small lemon, zested
  • 75 g Parmesan, finely grated
  • a small bunch fresh parsley, chopped, for serving

Method

1. Melt the butter in a large, wide saucepan over a medium heat and fry the leeks until soft and fragrant but not brown – about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, stirring to mix, then add the baby marrow and thyme.

2. Increase the heat to high, then fry, stirring often, for about 5 minutes or until the baby marrows start to soften and some darker bits start to form on the bottom of the pan.

3. Add 1 cup stock to deglaze the pan, stirring, then add the remaining stock, the milk and pasta. Stir, then bring to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally (the pasta tends to stick to the bottom quite easily), for 8–10 minutes or until the pasta is al dente, seasoning generously with salt and pepper.

4. Stir through the lemon zest and half the Parmesan. Remove from the heat and leave to stand and thicken for a few minutes – you want a saucy result for now, because the pasta will continue to absorb more liquid on standing. Serve hot in bowls, topped with a little knob of butter, the remaining Parmesan and a scattering of parsley.

Find more pasta recipes here.


Extracted with permission from Simply Seasonal: recipes inspired by nature, by Ilse van der Merwe, photography by Tasha Seccombe, Published by Penguin Books, an imprint of Penguin Random House South Africa (Pty) Ltd.