Couscous Recipe

Rick Stein’s seafood couscous recipe

I was reading about Rick Stein’s trip to Italy and in this part he discovers a wonderful couscous recipe which is famous all over the island of Sicily:

Rick Stein’s foodie tour of Sicily – Times Online I went back to Trapani to find the perfect fish couscous at Valderice Mare, a little village on the coast just outside the city. We stayed at La Tonnara di Bonagia, a hotel converted from a 17th-century tuna factory, which is a good place to base yourself. The restaurant that serves the couscous is nearby on the water.

Ristorante Pensione Sirena is the sort of place you will love if you enjoy the atmosphere of big, bustling Italian places; the seafood couscous is a simple matter of a good stock made by slow-simmering local rock fish such as rascasse and John Dory with tomato, garlic and nutmeg, which is then ladled on to couscous that has been gently steamed for more than an hour.

The dish is served with a line of grilled gamberetti, the local deep-red prawns, on top. Customers come from all over the island, so well regarded is the dish. There is another good restaurant for it at nearby Erice called Ristorante Monte San Giuliano.

Do you see how simple the seafood couscous recipe is?

The seafood couscous is a simple matter of a good stock made by slow-simmering local rock fish such as rascasse and John Dory with tomato, garlic and nutmeg, which is then ladled on to couscous that has been gently steamed for more than an hour.

The dish is served with a line of grilled gamberetti, the local deep-red prawns, on top.

So the method is very straightfrward but delicious. Get the best freshest local caught seafood that you can find, make a tasty stock, steam the couscous and assemble. That’s it.