Pesto, Meatballs and Orzo

This dish was a huge ginormous hit at our house. I have to admit that as I was making it I wasn’t sure how it was going to go over. First, I thought I had bought the right type of pasta, but it turned out I didn’t and then I wasn’t sure I had enough meatballs. Did I mention that I didn’t even start cooking dinner until after 8:00? If this dish was a bomb I had no idea what Plan B was going to be, especially since it was so late. Thankfully everything worked out beautifully and there were happy bellies all around the table.

Ingredients:
1 (16-ounce) package frozen precooked meatballs, thawed
1 (16-ounce) package orzo pasta (or any other type of small pasta)
1-1/2 cups baby frozen peas
1 (16-ounce) jar Alfredo sauce
1 (6 to 7-ounce) container basil pesto
1/3 cup sour cream
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 2-1/2 quart casserole dish with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add orzo and cook until almost al dente, about 1 minute less cooking time than the package suggests.

Place peas in colander and drain pasta over peas; return all to pot. Add meatballs, Alfredo sauce, sour cream, milk, and pesto and mix gently. Pour milk into Alfredo sauce jar, close lid, and shake; add that to the pasta mixture and stir. (By doing this you can get more of the Alfredo sauce out of the jar.)

Pour into 2-1/2 quart casserole dish and top with Parmesan cheese. Bake for 25-35 minutes until casserole is bubbly and top begins to brown.

What did the family think? They loved it! I think everyone had seconds.

Did I change anything? I left out the peas…no time for drama at the dinner table last night. Also, since I didn’t have the right type of pasta, I used some pasta that I had bought for another recipe that never got made…it was teeny tiny star-shaped pasta…it worked beautifully.

Where did this recipe come from? Busycooks

photo from Busycooks

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Filed under Definitely Making it Again, Everybody Ate It, Italian

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