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.
518 K 3.7/5 (113 reviews)
Grade this recipe:
Keywords:
Last modified on: November 16th 2017
For 10 people, you will need:

Change to the quantities for:
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

Vegetables preparation

Prepare 4 courgettes.

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

Set aside.

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

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

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

Stage 5 - 5 min.
Couscous

Stage 6 - 10 min.
Couscous

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
Do the same thing with 800 g chicken breast.

Do this for all the meats, then set aside.

Stage 8 - 3 min.
Couscous
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
Add meat, 4 tablespoons spices for couscous and mix again.

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

Stage 11 - 2 min.
Couscous
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
Bring to the boil.

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

Stage 14 - 5 min.
Couscous

Couscous preparation

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

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

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

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

Check seasoning.

Stage 18
Couscous
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 Change to a man
Possible allergens in this recipe: egg, Gluten, Milk
How much will it cost?
  • For 10 people : 24.95 €
  • Per person : 2.50 €

Change currency:

Note: Be careful, these prices are only an estimate, you can consult the table of prices by ingredients used for this estimate.
This recipe uses (among others)
Other recipes you may also like
How to prepare tomatoes
How to prepare tomatoes
Yes, I know you will say to me: why peel tomatoes? The answer is very simple: it's much better, gives a better texture, softer in the mouth. The skin is tough, adds nothing to the taste (and you will have noticed that commercial tomatoes have practically no taste), and finally it's there (on/under...
June 6th 2012332 K 24 40 min.
Cherry and pistachio tarts
Cherry and pistachio tarts
A shortcrust pastry case baked with pistachio cream, then topped with Griottine cherries.
July 4th 2010183 K 25 1 hour 20 min.
Roast in the bag pork with fondant vegetables.
Roast in the bag pork with fondant vegetables.
Roasting "in the bag" is a simple but long method. The meat is sealed in a bag and cooked slowly at moderate temperature, keeping it very tender and with an amazing flavour. Meat cooked like this produces delicious juicies without adding anything else. These can be used to cook vegetables to a...
April 12th 2020115 K4 5 hours 45 min.
How to peel pistachios
How to peel pistachios
If you buy pistachios shelled but still in their skins (cheaper than ready peeled), you shouldn't use them like this. They need to be "skinned", removing the skin which is pretty unpleasant to eat. Here's a fairly easy way to do it.
May 20th 2020131 K3.3 30 min.
Panzanella
Panzanella
Panzanella is a recipe from the Tuscany region of Italy, originally a tomato and stale bread salad, but here's a fancier version.
October 16th 202221 K 30 min.
News list of cooking-ez.com

Sign up to receive the latest recipes (next batch due to be sent on 2025-03-30)

*Your e-mail Your first name or nickname
I am not a leaving thing
Note: We'll never share your e-mail address with anyone else.
Post a comment or question
Posted by:
I am not a leaving thing
Follow this recipe (as 9 people already do)
If you are interested in this recipe, you can "follow" it, by entering your email address here. You will then receive a notification immediately each time the recipe is modified or a new comment is added. Please note that you will need to confirm this following.
I am not a leaving thing
Note: We'll never share your e-mail address with anyone else.
Alternatively: you can subscribe to the mailing list of cooling-ez.com , you will receive a e-mail for each new recipe published on the site.

Back to top of page