A dual couscous recipe with roasted cherry tomatoes and smoked paprika

Directions

• Step 1 Pre-heat the oven to 170°, place the tomatoes in a bowl, add 2 TBS olive oil, the balsamic vinegar, and the salt and pepper. Spread the cherry tomatoes cut in halves on the baking tray and bake until caramelized. Stir occasionally. This should take about an hour. Set aside. In the meantime, stir fry the onion in 4 TBS of olive oil for about 10 to 12 minutes until golden and candied, Set aside. These two steps can be prepared in advance.
• Step 2 Cook the pearl couscous in a large pan of boiling water with the saffron. Follow the cooking time recommendations indicated on the package. This should take about 15 minutes and the giant semolina should remain a little bit firm. Set aside and maintain at a warm temperature.
• Step 3 Pour the other finer couscous in a large bowl along with the tomato passata, the herbs, the paprika, the chili, salt and pepper and a large TBS of olive oil and mix it all together evenly. Add the 150 ml of boiling water to this mixture, stir and cover for 5 minutes. Stir again and add the baked cherry tomatoes, the caramelized onions and a bit of lemon juice. Taste and add salt and pepper if necessary.
• Step 4 Lastly, for the final step, roughly mix both couscous preparations together, set in an elegant serving dish, place teaspoons of labneh covered with a bit of nigella seeds evenly on top and serve immediately.