3 minute read
FOOD
ISRAELI COUSCOUS
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There are more than a handful of dishes that are “traditional” for Rosh Hashanah, as there are for all Jewish holidays. For our New Year, it tends to be fish (particularly fish heads or gefilte fish), apples and honey, pomegranates (featuring their abundant, brightly colored seeds), carrots (particularly as tzimmes), and brisket (which we seem never to miss an opportunity to deploy). Most of these are Ashkenazi in origin. One of my favorites, Seven Vegetable Couscous, is not: it is Sephardic.
For my elegant version I take this Moroccan dish and plant it firmly in Israel using two vegetables and Israeli couscous. The latter may be Israeli, but it’s definitely not couscous. Couscous is ground semolina (crucially without being mixed with either egg or water) rubbed together with wet hands until tiny granules form and are then dried. Israeli couscous, on the other hand, is tiny balls of true pasta made from both wheat flour and semolina then toasted.
ISRAELI COUSCOUS WITH ASPARAGUS AND TOMATO CONFIT
Serves 4
For the Vegetable Stock 1 ounce dried mushrooms (shiitake, oyster, porcini, or morel) 1 medium onion, roughly chopped 1 large carrot, roughly chopped 2 large (or 4 small) ribs celery, chopped 3 leeks, green parts only (reserve the whites for another use), cleaned and roughly chopped 4 cloves garlic, crushed, peeled/crushed 2 large russet potatoes, peeled/chopped 1 (4-inch) piece kombu 3 bay leaves 6 sprigs thyme 6 sprigs parsley 1 tablespoon whole black peppercorns 1 tablespoon whole white peppercorns 1 teaspoon fennel seeds 1 teaspoon coriander seeds 1 tablespoon salt (plus more as needed)
For the Tomato Confit 30 cherry tomatoes 4 cloves garlic, minced 2 cups extra-virgin olive oil
For the Israeli Couscous 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil 1 cup Israeli couscous Salt 2 to 3 cups Vegetable Stock 14 ounces slender asparagus spears, trimmed, cut diagonally into ¾" pieces (~2 1/2 cups) 1/4 cup Tomato Confit
Directions • Combine vegetable stock ingredients in a large stockpot and add water to cover, ~ 4 quarts. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to simmer and cook, uncovered, until the vegetables lose their texture and the stock takes on a soft but distinctly vegetal flavor, about 1 hour.
Strain the stock into a heatproof bowl, discarding the solids. Taste the stock and add additional salt if required.
Cool the stock, uncovered, to room temperature, then cover and transfer to the refrigerator until chilled. This subrecipe will make more stock than you will need for this dish.
While the stock is simmering, make the tomato confit by combining the cherry tomatoes, garlic, and oil in a small saucepan.
Place over medium heat and bring to a boil. Immediately reduce heat to simmer and cook until the tomatoes just start to split, ~ 30 minutes. jar and refrigerate. Again, this will make more then you’ll need for this recipe. The tomato confit will keep in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
When the stock is done, heat the olive oil over medium heat in a medium heavy saucepan until shimmering.
Add the Israeli couscous, season with salt, and cook until most of the couscous is golden brown, about 5 minutes.
Add 2 cups of the vegetable stock, increase the heat to high, and bring to boil.
Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until the stock is fully absorbed and the couscous is tender, about 10 minutes, adding more broth by the tablespoonful if the couscous is not yet tender.
Meanwhile, bring 4 cups of salted water to a boil in a large saucepan.
Prepare an ice bath.
When the water boils, add the asparagus segments and blanch until their color brightens, 3 to 4 minutes depending on the thickness of the asparagus.
Remove the asparagus from the water and shock in the ice bath to fix the color. Drain and pat with paper towels to remove excess water.
Toss the asparagus with the couscous and divide into four bowls.
Top each bowl with 1 tablespoon of the tomato confit and drizzle with as much as a teaspoon of oil from the confit (depending on how saucy the confit is).
