Pomegranate Couscous

One of the things I love about living in a Mediterranean country is the ability to go and pick more unusual things off trees, particularly when cooking certain favourite recipes.  The other day I was driving over to a friend’s house at Desert Springs golf club and I decided to take the back road.  I am glad I did as on the way, past the village of Las Cunas, I passed an enormous pomegranate tree.  I was so excited as the tree was absolutely laden with fruit ripening in the late summer sun.  It was situated outside someone’s gates, but clearly was benefiting from being watered, so in effect I would be pomegranate scrumping!  However, one person could not eat all this fruit and so I decided it would be alright to share! 

I only picked a couple as I wanted to make sure they were ready and off I went, vowing to take Mick back with me if they were.  So when I got home I cut into one – the jewels were paler than normal, but the fruit was ripe and absolutely delicious.  We went back on Tuesday evening and picked a whole basket load, whilst keeping an eye on the guard dog who was barking his head off!  A tiny tub of pomegranate seeds here is a couple of quid so this added to my delight!  

I have two of my best friends arriving tomorrow night and will be making one of my favourite dishes by Rosie Lovell (Spooning with Rosie) – Moroccan Chicken with Pomegranate Couscous and chickpea puree.  It is just gorgeous and one chicken will feed six of you.  Anyhow, here is the recipe for the couscous part. If you want the chicken recipe, leave me a comment and I will include it.

400g flaked almonds

1.5 litres chicken stock or vegetable bouillon

5 coffee cups of couscous

Ground black pepper and Maldon sea salt

1 pomegranate

Scatter the almonds in a frying pan and toast until golden (just a couple of minutes should do it)

Remove and tip onto a plate or they will continue cooking

Heat the stock to simmering point – put the couscous in a large bowl – poor over the stock and make sure the grains are covered by about 5 cms.  Cover with cling film and leave to absorb for at least 20 minutes.  Fluff with a fork and season.  Then take all the (free!) pomegranate seeds without any pith and scatter these and the flaked almonds over the couscous.  I guarantee once you have made this you will make it at least half a dozen times a year.  It is a fantastic dinner party dish as everything can be done in advance, looks stunning and doesn’t cost the earth to feed a dozen people.  This would also go brilliantly with spicy lamb or fish.