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.
520 K 3.7/5 (113 reviews)
2 hours 40 min.
Easy
5 people
21 IngredientsLast modified on: November 16th 2017
For 5 people, you will need:
- 1
2 courgettes - 2
½ leek - 3
2 carrots - 4
2 turnips - 5
½ onion - 6
½ garlic clove - 7
2 tablespoons olive oil - 8
10 meatballs (optional) - 9
400 g chicken breast - 10
2 tablespoons spices for couscous - 11
175 g tinned (canned) chickpeas - 12
1 kg water - 13
35 g tomato paste - 14
1 beef stock cube - 15 2.5 glasses water
- 16 1.5 tablespoon olive oil
- 17
2.5 glasses couscous - 18
25 g butter - 19
salt - 20
pepper - 21
a little harissa (optional) - Total weight: 3,445 grams
Change measures:
Times for this recipe
Preparation: 50 min.
Resting: 5 min.
Cooking: 1 hour 45 min.
All in all: 2 hours 40 min.
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.
Vegetables preparation
Prepare 2 courgettes.If you have small courgettes, just cut into thick slices.
Set aside.
Stage 3 - 10 min.
Peel and wash 2 carrots, cut into pieces, set aside.
Stage 4 - 10 min.
Peel and wash 2 turnips, cut into pieces, set aside.
Stage 5 - 5 min.
Stage 6 - 10 min.
Stage 7 - 10 min.
Do the same thing with 400 g chicken breast.
Do this for all the meats, then set aside.
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, 2 tablespoons spices for couscous and mix again.
Stage 10
Add all the vegetables and 175 g tinned (canned) chickpeas, mix again.
Stage 11 - 2 min.
Add 1 kg water. With a spatula, scrape bottom of pan well to mix all the flavours (important).
Add 35 g tomato paste and 1 beef stock cube, then salt and pepper.
Add 35 g tomato paste and 1 beef 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.
Stage 15 - 5 min.
When water is boiling, remove from heat and add 2.5 glasses couscous, mix well, cover and leave for 5 minutes.
Stage 16
After this time, add 25 g butter (or more), and mix with a fork. It's ready.
Stage 17
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.
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 recipe | 140 RDI=50 % | 160 RDI=20 % | 180 RDI=30 % | 2,790 RDI=140 % | 11,690 RDI: 140 % |
| Per 100 g | 3 RDI=2 % | 4 RDI=0 % | 5 RDI=1 % | 80 RDI=4 % | 340 RDI: 4 % |
| Per person | 30 RDI=10 % | 30 RDI=3 % | 40 RDI=5 % | 560 RDI=30 % | 2,340 RDI: 30 % |
How much will it cost?
- For 5 people : 12.50 €
- 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)
Water
Like these other recipes: Cretan Bread, Papadums, Gingerbread, Raisin breads (pains aux raisins), Caramel rice pudding, ... See them all 134
Chicken breast
Like these other recipes: Chicken club sandwich, Chinese style chicken, Coq au vin, Chicken nems, Chicken pie, ... See them all 29
Tinned (canned) chickpeas
Like these other recipes: Hummus, Cauliflower and chickpea purée, Lambé salad, Green hummus, Spinach and chick peas "à la milanaise", ... See them all 10
Tomato paste
Like these other recipes: Chorba, Tomato sauce (for pizzas), Cretan-style salmon , Green beans "Napoléon", Loaf for "les filles'", ... See them all 10
Other recipes you may also like
Sweet pancake rolls from Brittany
Stewed apples, raisins soaked in whisky, toasted almonds, rolled in a lightly caramelized pancake.March 10th 2015248 K4.3 2 hours 20 min.
How to cook Morteau sausage well
This is, in my opinion, the best smoked sausage. You can cook it in a number of ways, here are three of the best known.November 15th 20182.77 M 23.4 40 min.
You should not soak strawberries in water
When using strawberries in a recipe, the usual way is to soak in water, which is actually a very bad idea. Just look at how to preserve them here.February 21th 2011169 K3 10 min.
Millefeuille
Millefeuille is one of the best pastries available, if it is well made, i.e.: 2 layers of light vanilla cream between 3 layers of fine crispy (possibly caramelized) puff pastry.October 13th 2010333 K4.6 1 hour 45 min.
Prune Far
Far is a traditional recipe from Brittany in northwest France. The name comes from the Breton word 'farz' meaning flour. This is the traditional way, with prunes, but you can adapt it according to taste.October 3rd 2010237 K 15 1 hour 10 min.
News list of cooking-ez.com
Sign up to receive the latest recipes (next batch due to be sent on 2025-05-18)
Note: We'll never share your e-mail address with anyone else.
Post a comment or question
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.
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.