Couscous with Apricots and Pine Nuts

From the book The Basic Gourmet Entertains by Diane Morgan, Dan Taggart, and Kathleen Taggart

Serves

8

Introduction

Couscous (pronounced COOS-coos) is a tiny, granular pasta made from ground durum semolina. While unfamiliar to many North Americans, it is widely used in North Africa and the Middle East. It makes an appealing alternative to rice or noodle side dishes. Best of all, it is easy to make, since the couscous you are likely to find in the supermarket is a 10-ounce box of the instant variety, which requires precious little cooking.

Ingredients

	1	cup pine nuts
	4½	cups Chicken Stock or 2 cans (16 ounces each) low-sodium chicken broth
	1	tsp. ground cinnamon
	20	dried apricots, very coarsely chopped
	¼	cup extra-virgin olive oil
	2	(10 oz.) boxes quick-cooking couscous
	~	Freshly ground black pepper to taste
	~	Salt (optional)
	⅔	cup thinly sliced scallion tops

Steps

1. Preheat oven to 325ºF. Place pine nuts on a rimmed baking sheet and bake until lightly colored, about 10 minutes. Watch carefully so that they don’t burn. Set aside.
2. Bring stock or broth to a boil in a 3-quart saucepan over high heat. Add cinnamon, apricots, olive oil, couscous, and pepper to taste. Stir well, cover, and remove from heat. Let stand 5 minutes. Taste for salt and add if desired. Stir in sliced scallions and reserved pine nuts, and serve.

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