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Spring has sprung! Lockdown is over! Both great reasons for diving into this all-occasion Pearl Couscous Salad. The silky, comforting pasta vibe of pearl couscous teamed with fresh Mediterranean-inspired ingredients like tomato, cucumber and capsicum, and the vibrancy of fresh herbs and feta means this is a dish that can be enjoyed as a midweek supper, a hearty offering to take to an impromptu gathering with family and friends, or even an enviable leftovers lunch!  Prep Time: 30 min
Cooking Time: 10 min Ingredients: 1 cup pearl couscous 1 tbsp oil 2 garlic cloves minced 1 ¾ cups water 2 tsp vegetable or chicken stock powder 1 cucumber chopped ½ red onion, finely diced 1 capsicum, chopped 1-2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved ½ cup cubed feta or goats cheese ½ bunch mint, roughly chopped ½ bunch parsley, roughly chopped ¼ cup slivered almonds For dressing: 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar 1 tbsp squeezed lemon juice 1/2 tsp salt ½ tsp pepper 1 tsp honey 1 tbsp za'atar spice mix Method: First, toast the almonds over a medium heat in a frying pan. This only takes a couple of mins. As soon as they start to colour, remove the pan from heat and transfer almonds to a small dish. Set them aside for garnishing your salad at the end. Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium high heat. Add pearl couscous and garlic and stir, cooking for 1-2 minutes. Add stock powder and water, cover with lid and reduce heat to medium low. Cook for 10 minutes until the liquid is absorbed and the pearl couscous is cooked through but still a bit firm. Use a fork to gently separate the couscous, then transfer into a large bowl to cool. Note: it might look like it's getting a bit sticky or gluggy as it's cooling but never fear, the dressing and other ingredients will fix all that. While the couscous is cooking, make the dressing and chop the salad ingredient To make dressing, simply place dressing ingredients in a jar and shake well. Add remaining salad ingredients into the large bowl with the Pearl couscous, then pour over the dressing and toss. Garnish with slivered almonds and serve the salad at room temperature. PIMP MY RECIPE
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Universally loved by 97% of children and grown-ups alike, it's hard to go wrong with pasta and a simple red sauce. But what if you don't have tinned tomatoes on hand? Or you don't have the extra time needed to turn those tinned tomatoes into a sauce? Tomato powder to the rescue! In seconds, tomato powder can be turned into the most gloriously silky, full bodied and satisfying red sauce. Made from 100% dried tomatoes, you can use it in pasta, soups, casseroles, jaffles, nachos and parmigiana! See under recipe for more ideas on how to use tomato powder. Here I've paired it with our popular zoo pasta for a simple, 15 minute dinner. My kids and I love this dish, and I bet you will too!  Serves 3-4
Ingredients: 300g zoo pasta 50g/2 tbsp tomato powder 2 handfuls broccoli florets ½ cup Grated Parmesan Cheese Salt and pepper to taste +1 cup reserved pasta water Method: Fill a large pot with water, add 2 tsp salt. Bring to a boil then add pasta. The pasta takes aprox 12 mins to cook. At the 9 or 10 minute mark, add broccoli to the pasta pot. Then take a ladle or large spoon and scoop out 1 cup of the pasta water and pour it into a jug or small saucepan. At the 11 minute mark (or when pasta is al dente), drain pasta and broccoli, then return it to the pot. Drizzle a bit of olive oil over it. Set aside while you make your quick-as-a-flash sauce. Sauce: add tomato powder to the cup of reserved pasta water, then whisk together til smooth. Add a pinch of salt and pepper to taste. Place pasta and broccoli into serving bowls, then spoon the silky red sauce on top. Finish with grated parmesan or cheddar if desired. PIMP MY RECIPE
SOME MORE USES FOR TOMATO POWDER
Ask Italians the correct way to cook bolognese, ragu, gnocchi or polenta and you'll get a different answer from all of them. And they're all correct! Ingredients and methods vary between regions, creating unique geographical and cultural signatures on the food. Pesto is no exception. Recently, a charming Sicilian customer was delighted with our vibrant and fresh Australian grown Pistachios, and told me about his family's pesto recipe. In the south, he said, it's common to have Pesto made from pistachios, basil, olive oil, mint and parmesan. He was insistent on 3 things: 1. Unlike the classic pine nut pesto that most of us are familiar with, which uses just a handful of nuts to a whole bunch of basil. The pistachio version should be all about the pistachios, with the rest of the ingredients playing second fiddle. The mixture should be ⅔ pistachios. 2. Don't grind it finely. You should be able to see some pistachio pieces at the end. 3. "No garlic!" Here is my attempt at his beloved Pistachio Pesto. It was absolutely delicious. Hope you all enjoy it!  Pasta alla Trapanese, aka Pistachio Pesto
Serves 4 Ingredients 400 g pasta of choice 200g raw pistachios 50 ml extra virgin olive oil Juice of 1 lemon 40 g Parmesan or Pecorino grated salt for pasta and to season pepper to season ½ bunch basil, leaves only Handful mint leaves Method Put a large pot of water onto a boil for the pasta. Salt generously. "Pasta water should taste like the sea". Put the pistachios in a blender or food processor, add the grated cheese, lemon juice, herbs and half of the olive oil. As you start to blend/pulse add the rest of the olive oil until you get a dense pesto. Add salt and pepper to taste. Cook the pasta al dente. Save a cup of the pasta cooking water and drain the pasta and return it to the pan. Add some of the pasta cooking water to the pesto to make it a little more liquidy and creamier. This step is crucial. It really elevates the pesto to something special. Then add the pistachio pesto to the pasta and mix together well. Serve immediately with extra grated cheese as required. PIMP MY RECIPE *Fried breadcrumbs are a fabulous addition. Tear 2-3 slices of stale bread into pieces and blitz briefly in the food processor until you have coarse crumbs. Then pan fry them gently in a low to medium pan with a splash of olive oil until just crunchy. Use as garnish before serving. *If pesto without garlic just feels wrong to you, please add a clove. I recommend sautéing it low and slow first to mellow the flavour. *Mr Sicilian says that almonds are often used in addition to or in place of pistachios. Roasted gives a better texture *I love hazelnut pesto. It brings a really unique, modern flavour to the classic simplicity of pesto. Use raw or roasted hazelnuts. No need to remove skin, as it's a rustic dish. This anytime recipe is a great one to have in your arsenal, as most of the ingredients can be found in the pantry. Whether it's served as a quick midweek dinner or as an accompaniment to a fancier feast, I think you'll find that it's a handy dish to keep up your sleeve. Winner winner, midweek dinner!  Serves 3-4 as a main and up to 6 as a side.
Ingredients: 1/4 cup slivered almonds, toasted 1 tbsp olive oil 1 tbsp butter 1 onion, finely diced 2 tsp ground cumin 1 tsp ground coriander 1/2 tsp ground turmeric Pinch ground cinnamon 1/2 tsp salt 1 2/3 cups water 1 tsp veg stock powder 2 tsp dried currants 1 cup wholemeal couscous Handful chopped fresh mint or coriander 3-4 medjool dates, pitted and chopped 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice Method: In a medium saucepan, dry-fry the almonds for 1 min over a medium heat until they just start to turn golden. Tip the almonds immediately into a bowl and set aside. Put the saucepan back on the stove. Heat the oil and butter* in the saucepan over medium-low heat until the butter melts. Add the onion and salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is very soft, about 5-8 minutes. Add the cumin, coriander, turmeric, and cinnamon, and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add couscous and stir for 1 minute. Add the water and stock powder, increase the heat to high, and bring to a boil. Add the currants, cover pan with a lid, remove the pan from the heat, and let sit for 5 minutes with lid on so the currants can plump and the couscous can absorb all the stock. Remove the lid. Fluff the couscous with a fork. Add the fresh herbs, dates, lemon juice and almonds and fold them into the couscous. Serve immediately or pop in the fridge to enjoy as a salad the next day. *Why use a combination of butter and oil? When you want that unbeatable, fried buttery taste but want to cook at higher temps, adding a glug of oil will help prevent burning, as oil has a higher smoke point! Pimp My Recipe *Add some cooked chickpeas or lentils at the end of cooking time * Try adding a tsp or 2 of our Falafel Mix to rev up the flavour * Toppings - sprinkle on some Dukkah just before serving. Or, for a truly top-shelf finish, crumble some of our Rose, Pistachio and Orange Buckinis over the top - so good!  Ingredients: 500g Pasta of choice. (I've used Wholemeal Penne this time, but Spaghetti, Spirals or any pasta works well) ¼ cup Olive oil 2-3 tsp Italian Herbs 1 tsp Garlic Powder 1 tbs Balsamic or White Wine Vinegar (or lemon juice) 1 tsp Chilli Flakes 1-2 tbs Nutritional Yeast Salt and Pepper to taste Optional: 4-6 Anchovy Fillets, broken up Lemon zest Parmesan to serve
When pasta is al dente, reserve a cup of the pasta water, then drain pasta and add to serving bowl. Add a splash of cooking water. With 2 forks, tumble the pasta and sauce together so the pasta is well coated. Add more olive oil and cooking water if necessary.
Top with a generous grind of pepper, and parmesan if you wish. PIMP MY RECIPE: Got any tasty tidbits lurking in the fridge or pantry? Semi dried tomatoes, truffle oil, pesto, olives, capers, a tin of tuna… go for it! |
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