Simple and healthy but fabulous Ottolenghi cous cous recipe from the first Ottolenghi cookbook. Perfect for packed lunches, picnics and parties.
Brace yourselves! After weeks of squeaking in the comments of other peoples blogs “I’ve just bought the Ottolenghi book but so far only made the macarons,” I can honestly say I have made up for this by cooking no less than SIX recipes from this wonderful book in one week. I won’t post them all in succession but starting with this colourful Ottolenghi cous cous recipe do expect to see them all over the next few weeks.
I even recruited a new member to the Ottolenghi Sista-hood (hello Deeba, Jamie, Meeta, Hilda etc etc!), Sarah of Scrumptious Sally who had been deliberating on Twitter whether to go ahead and buy the book. Fast forward a few days and we were tweeting what we were cooking from the book that weekend and bizarrely ended up choosing to cook two identical dishes at the same time. If we ever meet, we’ll probably be wearing the same t-shirt.
This Ottolenghi cous cous recipe can be prepared in around half an hour. It is lovely eaten warm but equally good cold – it got me off the hook making my husband’s sandwiches the next day and his colleagues at work were apparently very interested in what he was eating, so much so that one of them came round for dinner – an Ottolenghi supper of course.
The next Ottolenghi book, “Plenty“, is due out later this month. Can it live up to the first one? I think so, I think we’re going to see a series of successful books from this team as we did from River Cafe and Moro in the 90s and 00s. You’d best stock up on pomegranate molasses now!
Couscous with dried apricots and butternut squash
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
Author: Ottolenghi
Ingredients
- 1 large onion, thinly sliced
- 6 tbsp olive oil
- 50g dried apricots
- 1 small butternut squash (about 450g) peeled, seeded and cut into 2cm dice
- 250g cous cous
- 400ml chicken or vegetable stock
- a pinch of saffron strands
- 3 tbsp roughly chopped tarragon
- 3 tbsp roughly chopped mint
- 3 tbsp roughly chopped parsley
- 1½ tsp ground cinnamon
- grated zest of half a lemon
- coarse sea salt and black pepper
- Optional - I also sprinkled over some pumpkin seeds which were not part of the original recipe. You can see these in the photo.
Instructions
- The original recipe text is available in Ottolenghi The Cookbook.
- Take a look at other Ottolenghi recipes previously featured on this site.
Valen says
March 31, 2010 at 12:26 amI've got a squash that needs to be used and this looks great!
tasteofbeirut says
March 31, 2010 at 3:30 amThis couscous is right up my alley! Next on the list!
Gourmet Chick says
March 31, 2010 at 8:09 amI am addicted to the Ottolenghi cookbook – I have never cooked a bad thing from it yet. Off to do a cooking course with Mr Ottolenghi at Leiths next weekend which I am super excited about – will report back!
MaryMoh says
March 31, 2010 at 9:24 amSo far I have not liked couscous but looking at this I may give it a try again. Looks delicious. Congrats to Christine for being the lucky one! Hope I'm the next lucky one 😀
Jamie says
March 31, 2010 at 11:52 amYum yum and yum sistah! 6 recipes? I am so far behind all my Ottolenghi sistahs! Yipes! This couscous looks out of this world delicious! Can't wait to get to London to get the next one! Welcome to the family.
The Grubworm says
March 31, 2010 at 3:52 pmI LOVE this recipe – i use it as the basis for most of my cous cous creations. I've substituted raisins for apricots and also scattered over any one of pomegranate seeds, pistachioes and pinenuts. Pumpkin seeds are a great idea and will feature next time i make it.
sandragillanders says
March 31, 2010 at 4:20 pmThis coucous looks wonderful and going to make to go with lamb. Must checkout the Ottolenghi Cookbook, this just after pledging not to buy so many cookbooks,lol!
Su-yin says
March 31, 2010 at 4:45 pmI {heart} Ottolenghi, but must admit to not owning the book. I have this terrible habit of refusing to buy cookbooks that don't have a photo to every recipe, but everyone keeps on singing the praises of their cookbook that I might just have to reconsider.
On another note, this looks gorgeous. Perfect for spring/summer. Now all we need is for the weather to cooperate and do what it's supposed to do!
Heavenly Housewife says
March 31, 2010 at 5:41 pmThe cous cous looks great. I love the food at Ottolenghi. I'm already on the waiting list for their new book.
*kisses* HH
Cristie says
March 31, 2010 at 6:19 pmI love both cous cous and butternut squash, what a perfect treatment for them. Thanks for posting the recipe, I've been eyeballing the cookbook myself . . .
Rambling Tart says
March 31, 2010 at 8:17 pmOh, this is GORGEOUS, Sarah! 🙂 I'm so happy you'll be sharing more of these recipes. 🙂 I love the color and vivacity of your photos. 🙂
deer baby says
March 31, 2010 at 8:23 pmI am starving…..Husband is making dinner right now and I wish it was this and not baked potato and chicken. I might have to get that cookbook….
Mozart's Girl says
March 31, 2010 at 9:29 pmHi Sarah! Great to find your blog…and this post, like the others, is perfect! the Ottolenghi cookbook was my favourite of last year, no doubt about it. A fantastic inspiration. I'm actually taking a foodwriting course tutored by Yotam in the Summer, he's a hero of mine! Thanks for this! Rachel xox ps I found you through Sandra Gillanders & Morwenna @ Bluebells & Butterflies, the lovely girls!
Sari says
March 31, 2010 at 10:01 pmI welcome every new cous cous recipe! This one looks wonderful, but that's actually no surprise as it's from Ottolenghi cookbook. I should finally join the Ottolenghi Sista-hood and buy the book too! 🙂
MeetaK says
April 1, 2010 at 8:36 amoh i've tried this from the book and it's simply lovely! and good on you for recruiting other sistahs to the hood! lol!
diva says
April 1, 2010 at 9:08 amThis makes me wanna hop on the bus now and head to Ottolenghi's since I'm lazy to cook and have no food. YUM! love couscous and love Ottolenghi. Think it's bout time I bought the cookbook. x
Oohfood says
April 1, 2010 at 5:58 pmI love Ottolenghi and I really should be getting that cookbook soon! I follow the Ottolenghi recipes in The Guardian on Saturday, and they are fantastic.
This is a perfect recipe to include in a buffet. I'm doing an Easter smorgasbord on Monday so am very tempted to make this!
Bethany (Dirty Kitchen Secrets) says
April 1, 2010 at 10:07 pmCouscous with fruits, veg and nuts is always a favorite! This sounds so good!
Sarah, Maison Cupcake says
April 3, 2010 at 8:34 am@valen, @tasteofbeirut Great to see you here, I hope you enjoy the forthcoming Ottolenghi recipes I will be featuring
@gourmetchick Really? Can't wait to hear about that!
@marymoh you should give it a go and good luck next time!
@jamie once you get started with them, you can't stop, the savoury recipes are really easy
@grubworm Your ideas sound very tasty too
@sandra @su-yin I think you'd get your money's worth out of it
@cristie I hadn't put butternut squash in cous cous before, it's wonderful
@ramblingtart Thanks!
@deerbaby At least he's making dinner, mine next does but he always washes up
@mozart's girl Welcome! I love Sandra and Morwenna!
@sari Do it!
@heavenlyhousewife Only about 2-3 weeks to go!
@meetak Yes we're becoming quite a crowd now
@diva You are lucky to be near enough to go there easily… I might not have bought the book if that was the case!
@oohfood I didn't know they were in the guardian? Will have to look on their website as I don't buy papers very often. Hope your Easter party goes well.
@bethany You would love it I'm sure. Perfect with your other favourite, hummus.
Sarah says
April 18, 2010 at 9:57 amI need to use the butternut squash that's been festering in my fridge, knew there was an Ottolenghi recipe but can't find my Ottolenghi book under the piles of papers on my table, so Googled 'butterbut squash Ottolenghi' and guess what came up on search results?
At least we're cooking in a good fortnight apart this time, it was getting a bit weird!