I learnt to make risotto at the age of 10. My mum and I had a private tutorial from the hand of my dad’s colleague, Ana, an Italian descendent obstetrician and amazing cook. I remember she had a couple of daughters, one of them my age, but I was more interested in learning the secrets of Italian cuisine rather than playing dolls with the other children. My mum wanted me to learn as at the time, I was a swimmer and a gymnast so I had strong arms and the very much needed endurance to sustain the art of clockwise involving movements demanded from good quality risotto, so I could be handed over the task. I still have strong arms but as much as love cooking I don’t think I have the patience of stirring the wooden spoon for 1 hour anymore, so I had to carefully think of alternative dishes that could equally bring a gratifying reward to the dining table.
I discovered maftoul -giant couscous- a few years ago but I felt I haven’t been experimental enough with it even though it has featured in a few posts in the blog. This is another of those little kitchen pilot projects motivated by effort resistance.
There is nothing about this dish that resembles risotto, it’s low calorie, lacking cream and wine, it doesn’t even have Parmesan cheese, perhaps the only common ingredients are the humble salt and pepper and the olive oil of course.. and you may wonder whether you missed the analogy or began questioning my reasoning. The point is that at least to my view, risotto is as comforting as this much healthier maftoul approach so, why not give it a go?
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Ingredients
Yield: serves 2
125 g Zaytoun maftoul
15 g parsley finely chopped
15 g basil finely chopped
50gr green pepper finely diced, seeds removed
75 g courgette finely diced
1 spring onion, finally chopped
1 garlic clove, finally chopped
Salt in flakes
1/4 teaspoon coarse ground Pepper
1/2 teaspoon grounded cumin
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
2-3 tablespoons Zaytoun olive oil
100 g halloumi cheese, grated
250 vegetable stock (you can make your own following instructions below)
For the vegetables and herbs stock
1 onion
25g parsley
1 stalk celery
25g courgette
300 ml water
Salt
Preparation method
If you are making your own vegetable stock:
Place the stock ingredients (onion, parsley, celery and courgette) in a food processor
or a blender. Add to a saucepan and incorporate the water. Season with salt. Bring
to a boil and simmer for 15 minutes. Strain the broth, saving the liquid and
incorporating it into a saucepan again. Discard the chopped vegetables and herbs.
Wash the maftoul under the sink. Bring 250 ml of the strained broth (or vegetable
stick) to boil and add the maftoul. Cover with a lid and let it simmer until the grain is
cooked. Remove from the heat and combine with the finally chopped onion, garlic,
pepper, courgette and herbs. Season with olive oil, cider salt flakes, freshly ground
pepper and cumin. Incorporate the halloumi cheese. Garnish with a drizzle of olive
oil and finely chopped parsley or basil. Serve warm and enjoy!
Adapted from ‘Greet Pearl Tapioca’, Ladurée Savory: The Recipes
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