Saturday, December 5, 2009

Recipe: Shrimp Couscous with Seafood Broth

After trying a couple recipes for seafood couscous, this is my favorite! Making the broth is kind of time-consuming, but not hard. It's adapted from a Cooking Light recipe; the directions are my own.


Ingredients:
1 lb unpeeled shrimp
1 tsp unsalted butter
1 onion, coarsely chopped
2 stalks celery, coarsely chopped
2 carrots, coarsely chopped
1 tsp chopped fresh or 1/4 tsp dried thyme
4 garlic cloves, chopped
1 big can diced tomatoes
4 cups water
1 cup dry white wine
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 tsp unsalted butter
1/2 tsp salt
Dash pepper
1 cup uncooked couscous
1 tbsp olive oil
1 cup dized red bell pepper
1 cup diced yellow squash

Directions:
1. Peel shrimp (save shells a bowl!) and pop the shrimp in the fridge.

2. Melt 1 tsp butter in a large Dutch oven or heavy pot over medium heat; add shrimp shells, onion, celery, carrot, thyme, and garlic. Toss for a few minutes until the veggies start to soften and the shrimp shells are pink; add the tomatoes, water, wine, and tomato paste. Let boil, then bring down to a simmer and let bubble for 35 minutes.

3. When the broth ingredients are done, carefully transfer to a blender (in batches) and purée. Strain the puree into a bowl.

4. Pop 1 cup seafood broth, 1 tsp butter, salt and pepper into a saucepan and let boil; slowly stir in couscous. Take off the stove, cover, and let sit for five minutes.

5. In a large skillet, sauté shrimp in olive oil for one minute, then add pepper and squash and sauté three more minutes. Add couscous and another 1 1/2 cups broth; cook one more minute and serve!