As we already said (http://www.oipa.org/international/mushrooms/), mushrooms are the symbol of the autumn. Anyway, they do not have to be used only in fall recipes! For example… what about cous cous? Let’s see how to use it with mushroom to get a… summer/autumn recipe!

  • 120 g of couscous
  • 150 ml of vegetable broth
  • 1 tbsp of turmeric
  • 200 g of mushrooms
  • 1 clove of garlic
  • 3 nuts
  • White wine
  • 1 small carrot
  • 1 yellow pepper
  • 1 red pepper
  • 1 eggplant
  • 1 celery
  • ½ shallot
  • chili powder
  • parsley
  • mint
  • ½ bunch of spinach
  • extra virgin olive oil

Wash all the vegetables, peel the carrots and then cut into small pieces. Do the same for the celery.

Cleanse the mushrooms, cut them into slices if they are small or reduce their size, if bigger.

In a pot, put a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil; chop the shallot and put it, along with the garlic, in the pot. Fades with white wine.

Add the carrot, the celery, mushrooms and a pinch of red pepper. Cook for 10 minutes or so. If necessary add some water; and, in the end of the cooking, the spinach (after washing them carefully!). The cooking will be completed in two minutes.

Add the turmeric to the broth and bring it to boil.

Put the broth in a bowl, and spill the cous cous gradually, like the rain: the right proportion is 80 : 100, so for every 80 grams of cous cous you need 100 millilitres of broth. I usually use 320:400, in order to have leftovers for the following day!

Wait until all the broth has been absorbed by the cous cous… and then shell. Use the hands to make this passage easier: it is fundamental that all the grains of the cous cous are divided, or it will not be that good once in the dish.

Mix the divided grains of cous cous with mushrooms and vegetable, heat them for a minute (but in summer, without mushroom, this recipe can be eaten even cold). Add the coarsely chopped nuts; sprinkle with parsley and add a few mint leaves.

Bon appetite!

Ingredients may vary according to personal taste and seasonality, so… Hone creativity and try different options.

Author

Paola Colombo