Recipe | Herbed Couscous With Tomato Cream Sauce

I first decided to try couscous when I watched this movie. It made couscous look so appetizing that I made it the following day. Of course, I loved it! I haven’t met a person who hasn’t liked couscous on their first try. Over the years, I have tried different kinds of couscous and different ways to make it, until one day, I made this herbed version just to prevent throwing away some wilted herbs. It turned out so good that I don’t make couscous any other way.


If you Google herbed couscous, most recipes call for the herbs to be added after the couscous has cooked. But I was inspired by the way my mother makes herbed rice. She boils chopped herbs in water an hour prior to adding the rice to it. When the herbs have been boiling for that long it turns the water green, and when the rice is cooked, it’s green in colour. It looks stunning and tastes out of this world.

For this recipe, I didn’t want to turn couscous green (although I am planning to try that soon), rather I just wanted the water to be flavoured with the herbs. The herbed couscous paired with tomato cream sauce was a perfect match. Here’s how I made it;

Recipe: Herbed Couscous
Serves 2–4

Ingredients

2 cups of couscous (I prefer Moroccan Couscous)
½ cup of finely chopped herb mix (use a mix of parsley, dill, cilantro, and mint)
2 ½ cups of water
Butter

Method

In a saucepan, add water and the herb mix. Cover and bring to a boil over medium-low heat. Once it is gently boiling, add salt, couscous and a small knob of butter. Gently stir and cover. Simmer on low heat for about 15–20 minutes.

Recipe: Tomato cream sauce with beef
Serves 2–4

Ingredients

½ pound of beef cut into thin strips
1 onion diced
3 cloves of garlic finely chopped
2 medium size tomatoes diced. Transfer to a bowl, add salt and let it sit for 15 mins prior to cooking.
1 bell pepper cut into thin strips
1–2 carrots cut into thin strips
½ cup of heavy cream
½ teaspoon of turmeric or your favourite seasoning
1 teaspoon of chopped thyme
½ teaspoon of chilli flakes
Salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons of olive oil

Method

In a sauté pan, heat olive oil. Add onions and fry until lightly brown. Add beef strips and fry until dark brown. Add garlic, turmeric, salt, pepper, and stir. Add the vegetables, thyme and chilli flakes, and stir. Cook for 5 minutes. Add tomatoes and stir. Simmer on medium-low heat

Stir once in a while till the tomatoes have dissolved and the beef is cooked, then switch the gas to low. Gently stir the heavy cream into the tomato mixture. Stir gently once in a while until you see the first sign on boiling. Take off the gas immediately to prevent breaking of the sauce. Serve warm with herbed couscous.