Sweet Couscous
From Jamie Oliver's Food Escapes
Serves 4
7 ounces dried apricots, pitted and roughly chopped
1 orange
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons couscous
2 1/4 cups whole milk
3 tablespoons runny honey
A handful of pistachios, shelled
Ground cinnamon
Put the chopped apricots into a bowl, add the zest of your orange and just enough boiling water to cover them, and put to one side. Put the couscous into a medium pan over medium heat and add the milk and 2 tablespoons of honey. Bring to a simmer, and let it blip away for around 5 to 7 minutes, stirring occasionally. Keep an eye on it and add a splash of water if it looks dry- don't overcook it, as you want it to have a fairly wet consistency still.
Meanwhile, toast the pistachios in a hot dry pan for a few minutes, tossing them occasionally until they start to smell fantastic, and drizzling over the remaining tablespoons of honey near the end so the pistachios go lovely and sticky. Just before you're ready to serve everything, tip the apricots and their juices from the bowl into a blender. Squeeze in the juice from half your orange and whiz to a puree. If it's a bit thick, add the juice from your remaining orange and whiz again. If you don't have a blender, just spoon the apricots out of the bowl and mush them, then mix this back into the juices until you have a vibrant, fresh apricot compote.
Divide the sweet couscous between four bowls, add a good tablespoon of compote, and spoon over some sticky pistachios. Hit each bowl with a pinch of cinnamon and tuck in straight away!
For this dish I do recommend high quality honey. It makes all the difference. I used unsweetened almond milk instead of whole milk. To me personally it doesn't ruin the taste nor consistency. I love pistachios but I wanted to try raw pumpkin seeds instead. It tasted divine.
From Jamie Oliver's Food Escapes
Serves 4
7 ounces dried apricots, pitted and roughly chopped
1 orange
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons couscous
2 1/4 cups whole milk
3 tablespoons runny honey
A handful of pistachios, shelled
Ground cinnamon
Put the chopped apricots into a bowl, add the zest of your orange and just enough boiling water to cover them, and put to one side. Put the couscous into a medium pan over medium heat and add the milk and 2 tablespoons of honey. Bring to a simmer, and let it blip away for around 5 to 7 minutes, stirring occasionally. Keep an eye on it and add a splash of water if it looks dry- don't overcook it, as you want it to have a fairly wet consistency still.
Meanwhile, toast the pistachios in a hot dry pan for a few minutes, tossing them occasionally until they start to smell fantastic, and drizzling over the remaining tablespoons of honey near the end so the pistachios go lovely and sticky. Just before you're ready to serve everything, tip the apricots and their juices from the bowl into a blender. Squeeze in the juice from half your orange and whiz to a puree. If it's a bit thick, add the juice from your remaining orange and whiz again. If you don't have a blender, just spoon the apricots out of the bowl and mush them, then mix this back into the juices until you have a vibrant, fresh apricot compote.
Divide the sweet couscous between four bowls, add a good tablespoon of compote, and spoon over some sticky pistachios. Hit each bowl with a pinch of cinnamon and tuck in straight away!
For this dish I do recommend high quality honey. It makes all the difference. I used unsweetened almond milk instead of whole milk. To me personally it doesn't ruin the taste nor consistency. I love pistachios but I wanted to try raw pumpkin seeds instead. It tasted divine.