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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.

341,3254.0/5 for 65 ratings

Last modified on: November 16^th 2017

For 10 people, you will need:

1 4 courgettes
2 1 leek
3 4 carrots
4 4 turnips
5 1 onion
6 1 garlic clove
7 4 tablespoons olive oil
8 20 Meatballs (optional)
9 800 g chicken breast
10 4 tablespoons spices for couscous
11 350 g tinned (canned) chickpeas
12 2 litres water
13 70 g tomato paste
14 2 beefs stock cube
15 5 glasses water
16 3 tablespoons olive oil
17 5 glasses couscous
18 50 g butter
19 salt
20 pepper
21 a little harissa (optional)
Total weight: 7,290 grams

Change for:

Measures:

How long does it take?

Time required

Preparation	Resting	Cooking	Start to finish
48 min.	5 min.	1 hour 43 min.	2 hours 36 min.

Keeping:

Several days in the fridge, in a closed jar.

At what time?

When will I finish if I start the recipe at a certain time?
When should I start for the recipe to be ready at a certain time?

Work this out...

Step by step recipe

Stage 1 - 10 min.

Vegetables preparation

Prepare 4 courgettes.

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

Set aside.

Stage 2 - 10 min.

Wash and slice 1 leek thinly, set aside.

Stage 3 - 10 min.

Peel and wash 4 carrots, cut into pieces, set aside.

Stage 4 - 10 min.

Peel and wash 4 turnips, cut into pieces, set aside.

Stage 5 - 5 min.

Peel and slice 1 onion and 1 garlic clove thinly.

Stage 6 - 10 min.

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.

Do the same thing with 800 g chicken breast.

Do this for all the meats, then set aside.

Stage 8 - 3 min.

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.

Add meat, 4 tablespoons spices for couscous and mix again.

Stage 10

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

Stage 11 - 2 min.

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.

Bring to the boil.

Stage 13 - 1 hour

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

Stage 14 - 5 min.

Couscous preparation

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

Stage 15 - 5 min.

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

Stage 16

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

Stage 17

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

Check seasoning.

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.

Nutritional information

% are calculated relative to a Recommended Dietary Intake or RDI of 2000 k-calories or 8400 k-joules by day for a woman (change to a man).

How much will it cost?

For 10 people : 73.25 €
Per person : 7.33 €

Note : These prices are only approximate

Change currency:

And to drink?: A wine from Algeria of course, or Languedoc, something full-bodied. Otherwise a well chilled rosé from Provence.

Source

Home made

More recipes?

This recipe uses (among others)

	Water: You can get more informations, or check-out other recipes which use it, for example: Chorba, Nougat, Pilau rice, Special small breads, How to cook pasta properly, ... All
	Chicken breast: You can check-out other recipes which use it, like for example: Chicken breasts in a potato crust, Vol-au-vent, Chinese Soup, Chicken breasts with tarragon, Chicken nems, ... All
	Tinned (canned) chickpeas: You can check-out other recipes which use it, like for example: Chickpea salad, Houmous, Chorba, ... All
	Tomato paste: You can check-out other recipes which use it, like for example: Taos hotpot, Cocktail sauce, Pissaladière with puff pastry, Tomato and courgette tart, Tomato sauce for pizzas, ... All

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