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Orzo With Meaty Sauce, Zucchini and Mushrooms Recipe – easy weeknight pasta dinner, ready in 30 minutes. Made with Ragu Homestyle Sauce.
Happy Wednesday guys!
How is your week going? Mine has been ok, but I wish we did not get rain almost every single day! But this weather is perfect for hearty meals like this Orzo pasta with meat, zucchini and mushrooms.
As I’ve said before, we love pasta in our family. Especially my husband. He can have it every day. That’s why I make a pasta dish once a week. It does not take a long time to prepare and you can serve it with different kinds of sauce, meat and veggies.
This pasta dish reminds me of my childhood.
As I’ve said before, I got my passion for cooking from my grandma. But she rarely cooked pasta. My mom was the one, who’ll prepare a meal like this on a weekday. When we were little, we were blessed to have my mom stay at home and take care of us. That meant a warm meal every day after school. And some great time spent together and lots of homework help.
She used to make the most delicious pasta with meat sauce, which was often packed with lots of vegetables, I guess for us. I used to not like vegetables as a child, meat was my thing and this was a way to make me eat more veggies. My sister was the opposite – she loved veggies, but was not a fan of meat.
My mom used to make the meat sauce with ground beef, but lately I’ve been using ground meatloaf (beef+pork) and I like the taste better. You can definitely make this pasta with ground beef. For the veggies I only used mushrooms and zucchini, but you can add vegetables of your choice.
Feel free to use your favorite pasta, I used orzo today. Orzo pairs well with the sauce and cooks quickly.
This isn’t a one pot meal, but I don’t mind cooking the pasta separately. You basically prepare the sauce in one pan, then add the cooked pasta and cheese to the same pan and give it a stir.
The real hero in this recipe id the New Ragu Homestyle Thick And Hearty Traditional Pasta Sauce. It tastes great! No artificial flavors or high fructose corn syrup.
This is our thickest sauce– you can tell because it hugs the pasta! Make sure you check their selection and try these new sauces.
Visit Ragu’s website to learn more about the new line of Ragu Homestyle sauces and find a taste of home.
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Orzo With Meaty Sauce, Zucchini and Mushrooms Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup uncooked orzo
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 garlic clove
- 1 shallot
- 1/2 pound ground beef, (or ground meatloaf)
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 tsp dry basil
- 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1 jar Ragu Homestyle Pasta Sauce
- 8 oz mushrooms, , sliced
- 1 zucchini, , quartered and cut into 1/4 inch pieces
- 1 cup grated mozzarella cheese
- chopped basil and parsley for garnishing
Instructions
For the sauce:
- Heat oil in a deep pan over medium heat. Add shallot and garlic. Cook for 1-2 minutes. Add ground meat, using a spatula break meat into smaller pieces and cook for 4-5 minutes.
- Add mushrooms and cook for additional 4-5 minutes, stirring frequently. Add zucchini. Add salt, pepper, basil and cayenne. Cook for additional 2-3 more minutes, over medium – high heat, stirring frequently. Add pasta sauce. Stir, so it is evenly distributed and cook until it is warmed up, for 3-4 more minutes. Stir in cooked pasta and cheese. Serve.
For the pasta:
- It is best to set a pot filled with water and bring it to a boil, at the same time you start preparing the pasta. Start cooking pasta at the time you add zucchini to the sauce. Cook orzo following the instructions on the package.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This orzo with meaty sauce looks super awesome and full of yummy flavors. Love the addition of zucchini and mushrooms, they must have added a nice texture. Love your GIF too! 🙂
This is definitely the perfect meal for all of the rain we’ve been getting lately! I love the idea of orzo and meat sauce, Mira! Sounds so delicious and comforting, especially with the mushrooms. Looks SO good!
Thanks Gayle!!!
This looks great! I will have to try the pasta sauce with orzo!
Your basil plant is so cute. I love that you decided to use orzo. That sounds so yummy. :]
Yummy! Pinning this one, thanks!
Ooh, this looks SO tasty, Mira! We have spaghetti bolognese about once a week because the hubs makes a really (really) good one, but this would be a great alternative for a change.
Thank you!
Love bolognese! I think you’ll like this one guys!
I love orzo and you reminded me I don’t make it enough. I’m also loving the new Ragu sauces, must check them out.
Thanks Janette!
Mira, I love that you continued your family’s love of cooking. 🙂 How wonderful that your mother made wonderful, warm homemade meals for you all the time. 🙂 This pasta dish looks absolutely scrumptious. Pinned! Hope you have a wonderful weekend Mira. 🙂
That cheesy goodness is seriously calling to me now, making my tummy rumble.
I haven’t had orzo in forever. All that cheese, yummo!! I must make this asap!