Vegetable couscous with grilled Provolone

Method

1. In a small saucepan, bring a little salted water to a boil and blanche the carrots and courgettes, diced into tiny cubes, for 2 minutes. Strain the vegetables and keep the water.
2. Mince the spring onion and the shallot, put them in a pan with 2 tbsp. of olive oil and fry over a low heat, making the traditional 'soffritto'.
3. Increase the heat, add the couscous and cover it with the vegetable water, then cook for a couple of minutes.
4. Turn off the heat and leave covered for approximately 10 minutes, allowing the couscous grains to swell a bit.
5. Transfer to a bowl, add the vegetables, the finely chopped basil and season to taste.
6. Create cylinder-shaped portions with the aid of an aluminium mould.
7. Cut the Auricchietto into 1,5 cm thick slices and pan-fry it in a very hot non-stick pan, turning it once with a spatula.
8. Once the cheese is nice and ready, put it on top of the couscous, then serve.

Chef's tip

You can enrich your couscous by adding the veggies you like the most: try it with peas, bell peppers, sun dried tomatoes, olives..
If you want to make it vegan, just omit the cheese and replace it with some spiced or smoked pan-fried tofu.

Serving suggestion

Vegetable side dishes, salads, easy fish- or meat-based 'secondo': all these options go well with this recipe.

Wine selection

Riesi DOC, Negroamaro Salento IGT, Traminer Friuli Aquileia DOC Superiore or Insolia Chardonnay Terre Siciliane IGT.

Family tip

For this recipe we chose a mild Provolone cheese, but you can replace it with a stronger Auricchio Piccante, for a more savoury taste.

Dish history

Some might think couscous is a cereal, but in actual it is a traditional Berber product made of semolina, grains of durum wheat. This very versatile ingredient, a staple food in the regions of North Africa, can be cooked and served with vegetables or stews (meat or fish), but it also can be used to make delightful 'salads', such as tabbouleh, or like the one we are presenting here. The delicate taste of the couscous and vegetables perfectly matches with the full, rounded flavour of the Provolone cheese. If you are serving this dish to coeliac guests, make sure you replace the couscous with a similarly shaped gluten free product such as millet or quinoa. Enjoy this dish and experiment with it creating your own variations!