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A dual couscous recipe with roasted cherry tomatoes and smoked paprika

A dual couscous recipe with roasted cherry tomatoes and smoked paprika

This dish is my own version of a mix between two recipes from Ottolenghi and Sabrina Ghayour’s recipes.

A dual couscous recipe with roasted cherry tomatoes and smoked paprika

21 December 2022
: Serving 6 to 8
: 15 min
: 1 hr
: 1 hr 15 min
: Easy

Ready in only 15 minutes if you have prepared the roasted tomatoes in advance.

By:

Ingredients
  • 16 to 20 cherry tomatoes sliced in 2
  • 150 ml olive oil
  • 2 TBS balsamic vinegar
  • 2 thinly chopped onions
  • 1 pinch of saffron
  • 100 g couscous
  • 150 ml boiling water
  • 1 TBS nigellas seeds
  • 100 g labneh or Greek yogurt
  • 100 g pearl couscous (giant semolina)
  • 2 TBS of a mix of parsley, oregano and Provence herbs
  • 1 tsp smoked paprika
  • 1 tsp chili flakes
  • 2 TBS tomato passata (thick tomato sauce)
  • Salt and pepper
  • Juice of ½ a lemon
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.

Good to know!

This dish is served warm.

With Sabrina’s keftas and green salad as a side dish, your meal will be ideally balanced. You may eat the leftovers cold or warm on the following days.

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