JOIN! 12 Weeks for $1

Greek Orzo and Tomato Soup (Manestra)

4 Servings

45 minutes

Made This Recipe? Write a Review.
Thank you for submitting your review! A member of our team is confirming the review meets our site's Community Guidelines. It will be posted on the site shortly.

In Greek, manestra refers to the rice-shaped pasta known as orzo in English and Italian, as well as to the tomato-based dish that’s made with the pasta. This humble dish is often thick, almost like a risotto, and sometimes includes meat—it’s pure comfort food. Here, we’ve turned the ingredients into a hearty vegetarian soup by simmering tomatoes, carrots, potatoes and zucchini with aromatic oregano and allspice. A sprinkling of pleasantly salty feta, the Greek cheese made from goat’s or sheep’s milk or both, provides a nice contrast to the savory vegetables. Serve crusty bread alongside for dipping.

4

Servings

Tip

Don’t let the soup come to a boil. Keep it at a low simmer to ensure that the ingredients will be properly cooked and enough liquid will remain when the soup is done. Don’t forget to stir often so the orzo doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pot and scorch, or the soup may thicken too quickly and become gummy.

45 minutes

Ingredients

Directions

Pardon the interruption

You need to be a Milk Street Digital Member to see the full recipe

JOIN MILK STREET DIGITAL & PRINT
12 WEEKS FOR JUST $1

and get access to all of our recipes and articles online, as well as in print.

GET DIGITAL & PRINT
How we use your email.

Your email address is required to identify your subscription. We will use it for customer service as well as other communications from Milk Street. We will not share, or rent your email address.

Reviews
Nicholas D.
October 28, 2023
Very good
I found the soup to be a bit bland but it was okay. Not sure why the recipe calls for water instead of chicken stock - I used 3 cups of stock and 3 cups of water. On the subject of liquid - the intro mentions the soup being thick - this was not at all. If I made this again, I would only use stock and would stop at 4 cups. I added a bit of lemon before serving which added some flavor. Overall, a good weeknight dish but not sure I'd make again.