Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the orzo according to package directions. When the pasta is cooked, drain it in a colander. Rinse the orzo with cool water and drain twice more.
Place the drained, cooled orzo in a large bowl. Stir in the pesto. Depending on how thick you pesto is, you may need to add some olive oil to loosen up the pasta. Drizzle olive oil in as needed.
Halve the cherry tomatoes and tear the basil leaves into small pieces. Toss both into the bowl of orzo along with the spinach. Give everything a good stir to mix and add more olive oil if needed.
Tear the bocconcini into bite sized pieces and add them to the bowl. Stir to combine.
Season the pasta salad with salt and pepper to taste. Serve at room temperature as a meal or as a side.
Notes
Make homemade pesto if you have time! The flavour is incomparable to store-bought. My homemade basil pesto or spinach arugula pesto recipes are super simple to make.Buy the best bocconcini (fresh mozzarella) you can afford. Even better is if you have a cheese maker at your local farmer's market! Most cheap bocconcini is cheap for a reason and has little to no flavour.Orzo pesto salad can be served immediately after making, however, I think it tastes better the second day. Make it up to three days in advance if you want! I like to add a drizzle of olive oil and stir in a bit more pesto before serving.Store this pasta salad in a large airtight container with a lid in the fridge for up to one week. You can also store this salad in the freezer in airtight containers for up to two months. Thaw the frozen orzo on the counter before serving.I find the texture of orzo pasta salad is better after it sits at room temperature for a bit. I like to remove mine from the fridge about an hour before serving.
Substitutions
You could use any shape of pasta noodle you like, however, I find larger noodles like penne and bowties a bit too soggy at first, and a bit too firm as the pasta salad sits. I prefer smaller noodles like orzo and tiny shells for pasta salad.I always have a jar of homemade pesto in my fridge; It's so easy to make! If you don't have time to make pesto, use your favourite store-bought version.If you don't want to make this recipe with tomatoes and fresh spinach, you can swap in your favourite raw vegetables. The basil can also be substituted for any other fresh-tasting herbs you like.Good substitutes for the fresh mozzarella are goat cheese or crumbled feta.