Couscous with roasted Mediterranean vegetables

Thought I had run out of steam where couscous is concerned? Wrong- think again! This is one of my favourite couscous recipes, and one I have been making for nearly 10 years. It has taken several iterations to get this recipe as I wanted it – it first gained popularity when I cooked in for some of my university friends when studying for my MA in Marketing of all things. Couscous with roasted Mediterranean vegetables takes a few minutes to prepare, under an hour to cook, and is packed full of flavour. Garlic, chilli, lemon and herbes de Provence work really well together.

I am really looking forward to my lunches at work for the next few days- this is something I struggle to bore of. As a word of caution, depending on your love of chilli, this can become a little fiery, particularly if you add the chilli flakes. Aubergines seem to act as a flavour and heat sponge which can be good in one respect, potentially a little overwhelming in another.

Make sure that you spread out the vegetables on the oven tray so that they can roast evenly.

Couscous with roasted mediterranean vegetables

Richard Bewley

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Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 40 minutes mins

Total Time 55 minutes mins

Course Side

Cuisine Middle Eastern

Servings 8

Ingredients

  

• 1 x medium aubergine diced
• 1 x medium courgette quartered horizontally, then sliced into wedges.
• 2 x medium red onions thinly sliced into vertical wedges
• 1 large red bell pepper sliced
• 2 x garlic cloves crushed
• 2 x tbsp olive oil
• 2 x tsp balsamic vinegar
• 1 x red chilli finely sliced
• 1/2 tsp chilli flakes optional, if you like it a little hotter
• 1/2 tbsp herbes de Provence
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

 

• First of all, you’ll need to make couscous following this recipe
• Preheat the oven to 200-220C, and line 2 x oven trays with tin foil lightly greased with olive oil
• Take a large bowl (you will need this) and combine all the vegetables together. Using salad spoons or large serving spoons, gently mix together.
• Add the olive oil, herbs, salt, crushed garlic, pepper, chilli and mix again, ensuring that everything is evenly coated.
• Drizzle over the balsamic vinegar and season well.
• Take out the hot oven trays, and divide the vegetables evenly between the two. The reason for 2 x trays is that I find that the vegetables roast much better when evenly spread out, otherwise the tend to get a little soggy.
• Roast for about 20 mins, the remove from oven, and turn the vegetables over. Return to the oven for another 15-20 mins until cooked. Do keep an eye on them though and check towards the end. I like my vegetables (unlike to steak) to be crispy and caramelised – it is your choice entirely.
• Once cooked to your liking, remove from oven and mix into the couscous you made earlier. Once evenly mixed, you can add some fresh lemon juice, drizzle a little more olive oil and scatter some fresh parsley.

Notes

So that the contents of both oven trays are evenly cooked, I tend to rotate the trays half way. The top of an oven is always hotter!