Couscous


Couscous
In couscous, the meat and vegetable mixture is rather long to cook, but not difficult. And the couscous itself (a kind of coarse semolina) is simple and quick to prepare.
540 K 3.7/5 (116 reviews)
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Last modified on: November 16th 2017
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For 10 people, you will need:

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Times for this recipe
Preparation: 50 min.
Resting: 5 min.
Cooking: 1 hour 45 min.
All in all: 2 hours 40 min.
When should you start or finish this recipe?
If you start now, at , you will finish around : ?.Change start time
To finish around 7pm, you'll need to have started before: .Change end time

Step by step recipe


Stage 1 - ⌛ 10 min.
Couscous : Stage 1

Vegetables preparation

Prepare 4 courgettes.

If you have small courgettes, just cut into thick slices.

Set aside.

Stage 2 - ⌛ 10 min.
Couscous : Stage 2
Wash and slice 1 leek thinly, set aside.

Stage 3 - ⌛ 10 min.
Couscous : Stage 3
Peel and wash 4 carrots, cut into pieces, set aside.

Stage 4 - ⌛ 10 min.
Couscous : Stage 4
Peel and wash 4 turnips, cut into pieces, set aside.

Stage 5 - ⌛ 5 min.
Couscous : Stage 5

Stage 6 - ⌛ 10 min.
Couscous : Stage 6

Meats preparation

In a big pan on hot fire, put 4 tablespoons olive oil.

When it's hot, make brown 20 meatballs.

Stage 7 - ⌛ 10 min.
Couscous : Stage 7
Do the same thing with 800 g chicken breast.

Do this for all the meats, then set aside.

Stage 8 - ⌛ 3 min.
Couscous : Stage 8
In the same pan, add a little more olive oil if necessary, add onion and garlic, salt and pepper, and cook for 1 or 2 minutes.

Stage 9 - ⌛ 1 min.
Couscous : Stage 9
Add meat, 4 tablespoons spices for couscous and mix again.

Stage 10
Couscous : Stage 10
Add all the vegetables and 350 g tinned (canned) chickpeas, mix again.

Stage 11 - ⌛ 2 min.
Couscous : Stage 11
Add 2 litres water. With a spatula, scrape bottom of pan well to mix all the flavours (important).

Add 70 g tomato paste and 2 beefs stock cube, then salt and pepper.

Stage 12 - ⌛ 15 min.
Couscous : Stage 12
Bring to the boil.

Stage 13 - ⌛ 1 hour
Couscous : Stage 13
Then cover, and let cook on slow fire for at least 1 hour (2 or 3 hours is better).

Stage 14 - ⌛ 5 min.
Couscous : Stage 14

Couscous preparation

Prepare the couscous: heat 5 glasses water with 3 tablespoons olive oil and salt.

Stage 15 - ⌛ 5 min.
Couscous : Stage 15
When water is boiling, remove from heat and add 5 glasses couscous, mix well, cover and leave for 5 minutes.

Stage 16
Couscous : Stage 16
After this time, add 50 g butter (or more), and mix with a fork. It's ready.

Stage 17
Couscous : Stage 17
When couscous is ready, broth is in a beautiful red and all vegetables are soft.

Check seasoning.

Stage 18
Couscous : Stage 18
The traditional way to serve: a layer of couscous, then vegetables and meat, and a good deal of sauce over the top.
Remarks
To prepare a hotter sauce: take 2 or 3 ladles of stock from the pan, and in a bowl mix with a good tablespoon of harissa (according to your taste) and some chick-peas. Serve with couscous for spicy sauce aficionados.

As for the chicken, choose a good quality one (free-range, of traceable origin, or "red label" in France for instance).

Proportions are given as suggestions, do not hesitate to adapt to your taste.

You can add other vegetables if you like: bell pepper, aubergine/eggplants, and other meats: meatballs, lamb, spicy sausage, beef...

If you can't find a ready-made mix of couscous spices, you can make your own from: cumin, coriander (ground), cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cardamom and turmeric. Paprika, cloves and caraway are also sometimes used.
And to drink?
A wine from Algeria of course, or Languedoc, something full-bodied. Otherwise a well chilled rosé from Provence.
Keeping: Several days in the fridge, in a closed jar.
Source: Home made.
Nutritional information
Proteins (gr)Carbohydrates (gr)Fats (gr)Energy value (in k-calories)Energy value (in k-joules)
Whole recipe270 RDI=110 %320 RDI=30 %360 RDI=50 %5,580 RDI=280 %23,380 RDI: 280 %
Per 100 g3 RDI=2 %4 RDI=0 %5 RDI=1 %80 RDI=4 %340 RDI: 4 %
Per person30 RDI=10 %30 RDI=3 %40 RDI=5 %560 RDI=30 %2,340 RDI: 30 %
The % figures are calculated in relation to the Recommended Dietary Intake , or RDI of 2,000 k-calories (or 8,400 k-joules) per day for a woman
Possible allergens in this recipe: egg, Gluten, milk
How much will it cost?
  • For 10 people : 24.95 €
  • Per person : 2.50 €

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Note: Be careful, these prices are only an estimate, you can consult the table of prices by ingredients used for this estimate.
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