About This Dish

This roasted red pepper, meatball and mozzarella orzo is a single serve, one-dish baked pasta that uses four meatballs from the prepable beef meatball batch and transforms them into something rich, smoky and deeply comforting. Jarred roasted red peppers, coconut milk, fresh basil and water are blended into a silky, vibrant sauce that the orzo bakes directly in, absorbing all the flavour as it cooks. The meatballs sit on top throughout, finishing in the oven alongside the pasta before the whole thing is topped with torn fresh mozzarella and returned to a high shelf until golden and bubbling. It is a one-dish dinner that looks and tastes far more involved than it actually is, and it comes together in around 30 minutes once your meatball prep is done.

Why I Created This Recipe

If you have my cookbook, you may already be familiar with my original one pot one portion meatball and mozzarella orzo — a recipe I am genuinely proud of and one that uses a rich, simple tomato sauce as its base. That recipe has always been one of my favourites on the book, and this More Ways Than One version is a direct nod to it.

For this edition of the series, I wanted to take that same format — meatballs, orzo, mozzarella, one dish — and push it somewhere new. Roasted red peppers blended with coconut milk gives the sauce a smokiness and a gentle creaminess that feels quite different from the tomato original, while keeping all the things that make that recipe so satisfying: the orzo absorbing the sauce as it bakes, the mozzarella melting into golden, bubbling patches on top, the whole thing coming out of the oven looking like it took considerably more effort than it did.

If you love this version, I would really encourage you to try the original in the cookbook too — they are different enough that both are worth making, and the tomato version is a brilliant weeknight staple in its own right.

About the More Ways Than One Series

More Ways Than One is a series on One Pot, One Portion built around ingredient prep — making one base recipe at the start of the week and turning it into four completely different meals without any of the monotony of traditional batch cooking. This is the fifth instalment, and the base recipe is the prepable beef meatball batch. The four recipes in this edition are roasted red pepper and mozzarella meatball orzo (you are here), garlic honey soy meatballs, romesco meatballs with feta, and Thai coconut meatball noodle soup. Make the meatball batch once and you have four genuinely different dinners ready to go.

A Note on the Coconut Milk

This recipe uses 150ml of coconut milk — just under half a standard 400ml tin. Rather than opening a tin and leaving the rest to go to waste, here is exactly how to use the whole thing across this More Ways Than One series:

• 150ml goes into this roasted red pepper orzo
• 150ml is used in the Thai coconut meatball noodle soup — the fourth recipe in this edition of the series, and a brilliant way to use up the next portion of your meatball batch at the same time
• The remaining 100ml can be frozen in an ice cube tray, then transferred to a freezer bag once solid. Frozen coconut milk keeps for up to three months and can be dropped straight into sauces, soups or curries from frozen — no defrosting needed

Opening one tin of coconut milk and wasting none of it across three uses is exactly the kind of practical, low-waste approach that ingredient prep is all about.

Why You'll Want to Make This Recipe

Single Serve

This is a perfectly portioned single serve dinner using exactly four meatballs from the prepable beef meatball batch. The orzo quantity, the sauce volume and the mozzarella topping are all measured for one — no scaling, no leftovers going soggy in the fridge.

Baked in One Dish

Everything goes into a single small ovenproof dish — the sauce is blended, the orzo is stirred in, the meatballs are placed on top, and it all bakes together without any further attention beyond a stir halfway through. One dish to wash up.

A New Take on a Cookbook Classic

If you know the original meatball and mozzarella orzo from the One Pot, One Portion cookbook, this is the More Ways Than One version — same format, bolder flavour. The roasted red pepper and coconut milk sauce takes it somewhere smokier and more complex, while keeping all the things that make the original so good. Worth making even if you have the cookbook — they are different enough to both earn a place in the regular rotation.

That Sauce

Blending jarred roasted red peppers with coconut milk, fresh basil and seasoning gives a sauce that is silky, smoky, gently creamy and deeply flavoured — and it takes about two minutes to make. The orzo absorbs it entirely as it bakes, which means every forkful is as good as the last.

My Top Tips for the Perfect Roasted Red Pepper Meatball Orzo

• Use a small ovenproof dish around 18–23cm (7–9 inches) in diameter. Too large and the orzo spreads too thin and can dry out before it is cooked through; too small and it will bubble over. A small gratin dish, a cast iron skillet or a ceramic baking dish all work well.
• Blitz the sauce until completely smooth. The roasted red peppers and coconut milk should form a silky, even liquid with no chunks remaining — this is what allows the orzo to cook evenly and absorb the sauce consistently throughout. Take an extra 20 seconds with the blender if in doubt.
• Season the sauce generously before it goes in the oven. Orzo absorbs a significant amount of salt as it cooks, so what tastes well-seasoned in the blender will taste under-seasoned in the finished dish. Be bolder than you think you need to be.
• Stir halfway through the 20-minute bake. This is an important step — the orzo on the top can dry out slightly before the orzo underneath has had a chance to absorb the sauce evenly. A good stir at the 10-minute mark ensures everything cooks evenly and no orzo catches on the top.
• Keep an eye on the liquid level. If the orzo looks like it is drying out before the 20 minutes are up, add a small splash of water — a couple of tablespoons — and stir it in. Different ovens run at slightly different temperatures and the orzo may absorb the liquid faster in some than others.
• Tear the mozzarella rather than slicing it. Torn pieces create irregular edges that catch, brown and bubble in a way that neat slices simply do not. Distribute it unevenly across the top — some patches will melt into the orzo, others will get golden and slightly crisp at the edges, and that contrast is exactly what you want.
• Move the dish to a high shelf for the mozzarella stage. The final 5–10 minutes with the mozzarella on top benefits from being close to the top element of the oven, which gives you that golden, bubbling finish without overbaking the orzo underneath.
• Rest for two minutes before serving. The orzo will continue to absorb any remaining liquid as it sits, and the mozzarella will settle into a beautifully melted layer. Two minutes of patience makes a noticeable difference.

Ingredients and Tools You'll Need

Essential Ingredients

• A drizzle of extra virgin olive oil – for a little richness and to help the top colour in the oven
• 1½ jarred roasted red peppers – the smoky, sweet base of the sauce; jarred peppers in brine or oil both work, but rinse them briefly if they are in oil to avoid the sauce becoming greasy
• 150ml coconut milk – adds a gentle creaminess to the sauce; see the coconut milk note above for how to use the rest of the tin
• 5g fresh basil – blended into the sauce for a fresh, aromatic quality; plus extra to serve
• 200ml water – loosens the sauce to the right consistency for the orzo to absorb as it bakes
• 90g orzo – small rice-shaped pasta that absorbs the sauce completely as it bakes; do not substitute with a larger pasta shape as the cooking time and liquid ratio will not work in the same way
• 60–70g fresh mozzarella – roughly half a standard 125g ball; torn into pieces for the topping
• 4 beef meatballs – from the prepable beef meatball batch; take them out of the fridge 10–15 minutes before cooking
• Salt and black pepper – season the sauce generously before baking

To Serve

• Fresh basil leaves – scattered over just before serving

Essential Tools

• 1 small ovenproof dish, 18–23cm (7–9 inches) in diameter
• Blender or food processor — for the sauce
• Knife and chopping board
• Spoon for stirring

Dietary Variations

Gluten-Free

Substitute the orzo with a gluten-free orzo — several brands now produce one and it works well in baked dishes like this. Ensure the meatball batch was made with gluten-free breadcrumbs. All other ingredients are naturally gluten-free.

Dairy-Free

Replace the fresh mozzarella with a good quality dairy-free mozzarella alternative — several are now widely available in supermarkets and melt reasonably well. The coconut milk in the sauce is already dairy-free, so no other changes are needed.

Different Vegetables

A handful of baby spinach stirred into the sauce before blending adds an extra layer of flavour and colour. Sun-dried tomatoes, roughly chopped and stirred into the orzo before baking, also work beautifully alongside the roasted red pepper sauce.

Adjusting the Smokiness

For a smokier, more intense sauce, add a pinch of smoked paprika to the blender alongside the red peppers and basil. A small amount of chipotle paste — half a teaspoon — is also excellent if you like a little heat alongside the smokiness.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need to make the meatballs from scratch for this recipe?

This recipe is designed to use four meatballs from the prepable beef meatball batch — the base recipe in this edition of More Ways Than One. If you have not made the batch yet, head there first. The meatballs take around 20 minutes to prepare and keep in the fridge for up to four days, making this a genuinely quick dinner once the prep is done. But you can use store-bought meatballs too, if you prefer.

Can I use fresh red peppers instead of jarred roasted red peppers?

Jarred roasted red peppers are strongly recommended here — the roasting process gives them a depth of flavour and a sweetness that raw fresh peppers simply do not have. If you only have fresh peppers, roast them yourself first: halve them, remove the seeds, place cut-side down on a baking tray (baking sheet) and roast at 200°C until the skin is charred and blistered, then peel before blending.

What is the best dish to use for this baked orzo?

A small ovenproof dish around 18–23cm (7–9 inches) in diameter is ideal. It needs to be shallow enough that the orzo is in an even layer that can absorb the sauce consistently, and ovenproof to at least 200°C. A small cast iron skillet, a ceramic gratin dish or a small baking dish all work well.

What do I do with the rest of the coconut milk?

Use 150ml in the Thai coconut meatball noodle soup — the fourth recipe in this More Ways Than One edition, which you can make later in the week using another four meatballs from the batch. Freeze the remaining 100ml in an ice cube tray, transfer to a freezer bag once solid, and use from frozen in future sauces, soups or curries. It keeps for up to three months in the freezer.

Can I make this ahead of time?

The sauce can be blended in advance and stored in the fridge for up to two days. When ready to cook, pour it into the dish with the orzo and proceed from step three. The full assembled dish is best baked fresh — orzo does not reheat particularly well once baked, as it tends to absorb any remaining liquid and become stodgy.

Is this recipe similar to the cookbook version?

The format is the same — meatballs, orzo, mozzarella, baked in one dish — but the sauce is quite different. The cookbook original uses a rich, simple tomato sauce, which gives a classic, deeply comforting result. This version uses roasted red peppers and coconut milk for something smokier and more complex. They are different enough that both are genuinely worth making — if you have the cookbook, try both and see which becomes your regular.

Closing

Some recipes earn their place in the regular rotation by being reliably, unpretentiously good. This is one of them — and if you already love the original from the cookbook, this version is going to feel like a very welcome addition to the collection.