RECIPE: Just Couscous

Schlagwörter

5 minute cooking, comfort food, Couscous, easy

Today I found my new favourite comforting food, that literally doesn’t take any effort at all. And no I’m not talking spaghetti with fresh tomato sauce (which all the normal people that enjoy cooking pretend to even want to make when they can’t be bothered to cook), because let’s face it, that’s still a little bit of effort and even a little bit more of washing up to do. The solution for these days when you really can’t be bothered to cook anything, don’t want to order food, but still want something comforting to eat is: Couscous.
It’s a bit funny really, because I used to hate couscous. I’d always try and avoid it. However I now know that that was only because it was really boring and flavourless.

Now you might think hmmmmmmm didn’t you say a second ago, that this doesn’t take any effort at all? Does it not take effort to make it flavourful? No, not really! All you have to do is this:

1) Make 1 cup of really nice vegetable stock (doesn’t need to be fresh, but you know, buy good stock… for any germans, I use “Seitenbacher).

2) Mix it with 1 tablespoon of oliveoil and 1 tablespoon of honey

3) Pour this mixture over 1 cup of couscous

and you’re done! You only need to let this sit for a couple of minutes, loosen it with a fork and it’s ready to be eaten! Be honest, isn’t this about as simple as putting a ready made meal in the microwave?
I know it’s not the most exiting thing in the world but it’s cheap*,very flavourful** and oh so fluffy! I find this nice enough to eat plain, but you can also add anything you want… raisins (dried or soaked in something nice), feta cheese, some cut up cherry tomatoes (that’s what I did), a can of chickpeas, cucumber or literally anything you can find in the fridge

If you’re looking for real things to make with this basic couscous recipe, have a look at the ratatouille couscous and the couscous salad chili-coriander dressing
*in fact most days this will not cost you anything, because I just expect you to have this at home! (I do realise that even these ingredients need to be bought sometimes, but they’re not exactly expensive)

**Obviously this depends entirely on the olive oil, honey and vegetable stock you use!

CLASSICS: Tomato sauce

Schlagwörter

basil, caramelized onion, garlic, pasta, pasta sauce, Red Onion, sauce, Thyme, Tomato

If I had to choose three foods for the rest of my life, pasta would definitely be one of them. I like pasta in all shapes and forms and with all sorts of sauces (or just without any sauce at all) but tomato sauce has to be one of the classics, so here we go:

(This is how Mr Tomatosauce-maker himself: D. taught me how to make tomato sauce)

1) Cut 1 red onion into little cubes. (When I made this sauce for lunch today, I also added some sliced spring onions for a bit of summer-y taste)

2) Heat up a bit of olive oil in a frying pan, and when it’s hot, add the red onion and fry it with a little bit (or a lot) of sugar. (If you’re using spring onions as well, add them slightly later)

3) When the onion is nearly perfectly caramelized, crush in 1-4 cloves of garlic. How many cloves depends on how many people you’re planning to kiss in the next 24 hours and furthermore how much you want them to enjoy the kiss(es). (If anyone wants to know a formula, let me know and I’ll come up with one!!!!)

4) You can then add some sherry. This is not essential, but I think it adds to the flavour nicely. I always have a bottle of sherry in the cooking area, but if you have a bottle of red wine open, feel free to substitute it in!

5) Now is also the time to put in some fresh thyme. As said before the more the better, but I personally often give up quickly, because I find picking thyme slightly or maybe even very annoying.

6) When the sherry (/red wine/dessert wine/raspberry-mango-maracuja milkshake) has evaporated add tinned tomatoes (I use about a tin per two people)

7) Now’s the time to go mad with spices, add whatever you feel like. I normally use a lot of curry powder and some freshly ground pepper and sea salt. Sometimes I also find that it’s not sweet enough yet, so logically if that’s the case, you can add more sugar.

8) Just before you’re ready to serve, add some roughly chopped fresh basil (because you know, it’s not exactly a secret, that tomato and basil go together well… )

9) Serve with some al dente spaghetti or alternatively (if you let it cook for a bit longer, so all the liquid can evaporate) as base sauce on a pizza (also delightful!) 

Whichever option you use the sauce for, I’m sure you’ll have a great time