Couscous Imperial

Name: Couscous Imperial
Yield: Serves 6 to 8
Ingredients: couscous for serving; honey to taste (optional); harissa to taste; 1 pound pumpkin squash, peeled and cut into 1 ½- to 2-inch chunks; 3 tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and chopped; 6 small zucchini, cut into 2-inch lengths; ½ cup golden raisins; 4 cooked quince (optional); ½ cup almonds, toasted (optional); ½ teaspoon saffron threads, crushed and steeped in ¼ cup hot water or broth; ¼ cup olive oil; water or meat or poultry broth as needed; 6 large or 12 small carrots, peeled and cut into 1 ½-inch chunks; 3 large or 6 small turnips, peeled and quartered or cut into 1 ½-inch pieces; 2 pounds stewing beef or lamb cut into 2-inch pieces, or 1 chicken, cut into serving portions; 2 teaspoons salt; 2 large onions, chopped; 2 teaspoons ground ginger; 2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper; 1 cup dried chickpeas, soaked in cold water overnight

Imperial Couscous

Preparation info

Serves
6 to 8

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

Saffron Shores

By Joyce Goldstein

Published 2002

About

Ingredients

1 cup dried chickpeas, soaked in cold water overnight
2 pounds stewing beef or lamb cut into 2-inch pieces, or 1

Main course
Stew
Mediterranean

Method

This is my recipe for a basic couscous meal. It can be made with beef, lamb, or chicken. This version is a cross between one from Tangier and one from Fez. Algerian cooks prefer beef or chicken for their couscous, not lamb. Sometimes beef and chicken are used together. Meatballs may replace the chunks of meat or poultry (see a basic meatball recipe). On Rosh H