When I made the grande announcement that I was going to make couscous, I was met with confused stares, followed by… “what is couscous?”
I thought I was the only one ignorant to the ways of couscous, so the blank looks were fairly comforting. Trying to answer their question, however, was a different matter. So I did what I always do. I Googled it.
According to Wikipedia: “Couscous is a grain dish of spherical granules made by rolling and shaping moistened semolina wheat and then coating them with finely ground wheat flour.”
I simplified this explanation by saying “it’s a semolina thingy that you can use as an alternative to pasta or potatoes (got the last bit from the packet :P). Just wait and taste it”.
It all started with a trip to Tesco to pick up some red lentils last week. I saw the couscous next to it for 67p for 500g!!! Most individual portions of 100g are the same price, if not more expensive! So I figured I’d compete with the likes of Ainsley Harriott and do my own version 🙂
I’ve tasted couscous only once before, and that was ages ago. So I was relying on my twinny to tell me if I’d made it correctly. Heres what I did:
I chopped up:
250g closed cup mushrooms
1 red pepper
1 green pepper
1 onion
And I measured out 200g couscous (serves 4)
I put 1 veg stock cube into 250ml boiled water and kept aside till needed.
I fried the onion and mushrooms for around 5 mins, added the peppers, then fried for another 5 mins.
I then added the couscous, followed by the stock. I added some crushed black pepper and a few tsps of sweet paprika at this point too. I gave it a good stir then removed the pan from the heat. The packet says to leave for 5 minutes, but I’d left it for half an hour (till my sis got here), then reheated it quickly. I added about 50ml of water at this point, so it wasn’t too dry.
I’d originally planned to add a smoked sausage to this and have it as a main dish. But mum had made a “salad”, so I just put small amounts on our plates and there was plenty leftover for lunch the next day (the packet says you can’t freeze it though, only refrigerate then heat up in the microwave for a couple of minutes).
I used inverted commas to describe the salad, as I’ve yet to meet anyone else who puts waffles and piles of grated cheese on theirs. But it was damn tasty, and the addition of the couscous made it very filling indeed!
Eat your heart out Ainsley (what a weird phrase).
What do you like to have couscous with? I need more ideas, now that I have 300g lurking in my cupboard…
😀
Oh I LOVE couscous….we use it most weeks as a very quick starch component to a meal. Far quicker than boiling potatoes. I flavour it with stock or spices, depending on what we are eating it with. maybe sliced almonds if we are going down the Middle eastern route. And friends cooked me spicy couscous from a Jamie Oliver recipe (from the Naked Chef?) that was delicious enough to be eaten as a stand alone dish.
Ooooh lovely!! I’d quite fancy putting chopped chorizo into the couscous and stuffing it into a roasted red pepper (and melting cheese on top, under the grill, thus obliterating any health benefit of it haha), I will try that next time!
Great for summer!
I agree Mike, nice and light 🙂
Looks good. Couscous goes well with any stew – soaks up those juices nicely.
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