Weekday Vegetarian: Couscous with Corn and Peas

Photo Credit: Kelly Rossiter

This recipe is actually for something called fregola, which was new to me. It is apparently, "tiny, toothsome balls of pasta". Given that I'm at the cottage, I was reasonably certain that fregola would not be on offer at my local general store. But, of course, couscous is tiny, toothsome balls of pasta as well, and that was easy to find. This is a lovely little recipe that cooks quickly and is very nice light dinner for a warm summer evening. The recipe says that you can use frozen peas if you don't have any corn, but I had both fresh corn and fresh peas, so I added them both to the pot. I didn't have any scallions, but I did have some garlic scapes, so I used them. This was also quite tasty the next day for lunch served as a salad.

This recipe is from The New York Times, August 9, 2011.

Couscous with Corn and Peas

1 cup water
1 cup couscous
1 tablespoon butter
1 1/2 cups sweet corn kernels or frozen peas
1 cup sliced scallions
1 cup hot vegetable stock
3 tablespoons grated Parmigiano-Reggiano or Grana Padano cheese, or as needed
Salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

1. In a medium pot, bring water to a boil. Add couscous and stir into water. Cover and remove from heat.

2. Place a sauté pan over medium-high heat, and add butter, corn and/or peas, scallions, and vegetable stock. Cook at a lively simmer, stirring occasionally, until the corn or peas are cooked and the broth is reduced by about half, about 3 minutes.

3. Remove from heat, and add fregola and Parmigiano-Reggiano or Grana Padano. The mixture should be gooey like macaroni and cheese. Season with salt and pepper to taste. If desired, serve with a green salad.

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Couscous and Avocado Salad
Lemon Parmesan Israeli Couscous