Israeli Couscous With Chunky Tomato Sauce
"Posted for Zaar World Tour 2005. Try whole wheat couscous for nutritional boost. Can be used to top polenta or pasta. Quick and easy and very low-fat. Saffron is very good but very expensive and some grocery stores only sell it from behind a counter. From Vegetarian Times Cooks Mediterranean. Have not made this yet."
photo by COOKGIRl
- Ready In:
- 30mins
- Ingredients:
- 12
- Serves:
-
4
ingredients
- 1 3⁄4 cups vegetable broth
- 1 cup couscous
- 1 pinch saffron, crushed
- 1 -2 tablespoon pine nuts, toasted
- 3 scallions, trimmed and thinly sliced
- 1 small onion, diced
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 (28 ounce) can plum tomatoes
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil (2 teaspoons dried)
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme (1 teaspoon dired)
- 1⁄4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- salt & freshly ground black pepper, to taste
directions
- In small saucepan heat 1 1/2 cups broth until simmering. Stir in couscous and saffron.
- Remove from heat, cover and let sit until all the liquid is absorbed, about 5 minutes.
- Transfer couscous to baking dish and stir in pine nuts and scallions. Cover with aluminum foil to keep warm and set aside. (Note: to toast pine nuts, preheat oven to 350°F and cook for about 5 minutes.).
- Heat remaining 1/4 cup broth in medium saucepan over medium heat and cook onion and garlic until tender, about 5 minutes.
- Roughly chop tomatoes and add to saucepan with their juice.
- Add basil, thyme and red pepper flakes.
- Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until thickened, about 20 minutes.
- Season sauce with salt and pepper and pour over couscous. Serve immediately.
Questions & Replies
Got a question?
Share it with the community!
Reviews
-
I just made the couscous part of this dish, not the tomato sauce. Very nice, delicate flavour - definately needed salt and pepper for our tastes though. A quick and tasty side dish! -
My rating and review comments mirror that of toni gifford's review above. The title of the recipe threw me at first. I have a special couscous in my pantry called Israeli couscous. The grains are about the size of a pinhead, off white and toasted. It is a special couscous imported from Israel. I prefer it over regular smaller-grained couscous. I cheated and used a 26 ounce jar of Bertolli pasta sauce with Vidalia onion instead of a can of plum toms. I added more saffron, too. This will be a fun recipe to experiment with. Thanks for posting it. cg -
The dish presents beautifully. Very colorful, and inviting. We thought that the tomato chunks dominated both the flavor and the texture. I'd like to try the sauce with a larger pasta (such as penne) in the future.
-
I went back and forth on how to rate this dish. The parts -- the saffron seasoned couscous and tomato sauce -- were superb. Independently, they were both worthy of a fifth star. That said, they didn't fit as well togther as one would hope. Alone the sauce is fresh, bright and flavorful but it tended to overwhelm the delicate flavor of the saffron couscous. I will certain make both things again (and again) just maybe not together. Thanks Kumquat for not one but two two good recipes.
RECIPE SUBMITTED BY
Kumquat the Cats fr
New York City, 72
<p>Clockwise from upper left, my dear friends Cranberry, Quincy, Kumquat and Kiwi. All of our cats were born in the wild and adopted by us. Zaar Chefs I have met so far: Elmotoo, justcallmeToni, ~Rita~, Midwest Maven, Bird&Buddha (both of them) and most recently, Ms*Bindy from upstate New York:) Wonderful, sweet, friendly people and great chefs! Most relevant thing to mention here is that I am a vegetarian, and recently became a vegan (almost 100%). To put vegetables and other things not meat or fish on the table I work as an actuary (in my case anyway, a combination of statistician, number-cruncher and/or programmer). For fun I like to travel. Just came back from Namibia, a peaceful democracy in Africa with lots of animals! Got some terrific pictures of lions, leopards, cheetahs, elephants, rhinocerous, hyenas, all kinds of antelopes, giraffes and zebras. Namibia is the second most sparsely populated country per square mile, just behind Mongolia. Update: We went to Italy this Spring. We had lots of pizza and pasta. The pizza is so much better in Italy, particularly the crust. The Amalfi coast was absolutely beautiful. Spectacular natural scenery (Canada and Alaska are really beautiful, Patagonia in Chile is sublime, Iceland is unique) has been my latest passion as far as travel destinations but I have seen quite a few big cities too (Paris, Berlin, London and Madrid to name a few). On my bulletin board at work I keep a list of every country I've visited (other than the U.S. of course). So far I've made it to five continents: Europe, Africa, South America, Asia and North America of course. I've got only two other continents to conquer:) I don't usually have difficulty finding vegetarian dishes here in the U.S. or overseas, but finding vegan dishes is much harder. I have no kids, just cats, Kumquat, Cranberry, and more recently Quincy and Kiwi. They are purebreds, of the breed alley caticus (okay, American shorthair I guess). Our cats are not vegetarians, though my boyfriend (significant other, long-term partner, whatever) is. I am a friend of all animals both tamed and wild. In addition I am a freethinker and my boyfriend studies philosophy. Either way, we get along pretty well. Also, please allow me to say that my BF and I recently bought a condominium in NYC.:) Pet peeve? Okay, I don't like public scenes, especially parents yelling at their children, lovers' spats, etc. If it must be done please do it in private:D Participation & Awards:</p>
