Couscous Royal

My partner has been coming to the South of France since the 1980s, to his parents static caravan parked up in a campsite at Serignan Plage (which was washed away in a winter flood in the mid 1990s). He tells tales of drinking beer with his mates and eating merquez frites, Couscous Royal, and other southern French take away dishes.

We’ve been coming to the same area of the South of France since 2004, and have enjoyed expanding our growing family's gastronomic repertoire over the years. They love merquez, tomato sauces, meat, and garlic in most of its forms. So Couscous Royal, which in theory has four meats in it - merguez, lamb, chicken, and beef - suits them down to the ground, even if I did reduce the meat a bit. 

My recipe is taken from a pack of Carrefour couscous, minus the chicken, beef, carrots, turnips, cinnamon, and ground coriander only for ease of shopping.

Serves 4

4 merguez

4 lamb chops (épaule tranchée), or chicken legs

1 can chickpeas

1 can chopped tomatoes 

1 onions, peeled and chopped 

1 clove of garlic, peeled and chopped

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp smoked paprika

1 tsp ground cumin

1 mug of couscous 

Fry the chopped onion in the olive oil in a large saucepan. When it begins to go brown add the couscous and lamb to seal it  

Add the garlic and spices. Stir around then add chopped tomatoes, chickpeas and their liquid and then top up with enough water to cover. Bring to the boil then simmer for 20 minutes whilst you cook the couscous

Add double the volume of boiling water to couscous to a Pyrex dish and leave covered to absorb the water for 10 minutes. Fluff with a fork and serve with the meat. 

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