Roast Sweet Potato and Giant Cous Cous Gratin with SunBlush? Tomatoes
Serve with: Nothing is needed but a leaf salad is nice.
Prep Ahead: No Need
Total Prep and Cooking Time: 40-50 minutes Active Time: 30-40 minutes
A little balsamic syrup, spooned over the top, is a nice but optional addition, or as my wife likes, a little Worchester sauce, an extremely optional addition.
When I make a saucy pasta gratin or macaroni cheese, I prefer to brown the top by grilling because the pasta beneath stays saucier. I find that baking the whole thing means that the sauce soaks too deeply into the pasta which makes it dry and cloying. After saying all of this, you don’t even need to brown the top, you can just mix in the cheese, sunblush and almonds then serve it straight from the pan. As autumn drifts to winter you can replace the sweet potato with butternut squash or pumpkin.
You will need an approximately 28x20cmx6cm deep gratin dish.
Ingredients:
- 750g sweet potatoes
- 1 &1/2 tablespoons vegetable oil, or oil from the sunblush tomatoes
- 2 medium onions, (160-200g total) peeled and finely diced
- 4 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced
- 2 tbs extra virgin olive oil
- 300g whole wheat giant cous cous
- 1 heaped tablespoon tomato puree
- 750ml – 1 litre vegetable stock or hot water
- 200g spinach, washed and thickly sliced
- 150g light crème fraiche (easier to weigh than measure)
- 100g grated cheddar cheese
- 20 sunblush tomatoes, cut in half
- 6 tablespoons flaked almonds
- Salt, and freshly ground black pepper and nutmeg
- Balsamic syrup or Worchester sauce to serve (optional)
Method:
1. Pre-heat your oven to 200c/Gas 6Start with the sweet potatoes, peel them, cut them in half lengthways then slice them into 2cm chunks. Put them onto a baking tray, toss with the vegetable oil then season with salt, pepper and nutmeg. Roast for 20-25 minutes until golden and soft. Turn the sweet potatoes with a fish slice 2 or 3 times while they roast.
2. In the meantime, get a large saucepan; add the giant couscous and 2 tbs olive oil. Gently fry, stirring occasionally for 2-3 minutes until the grains are evenly toasted and smell nutty. Spoon the couscous onto a plate. Add the sliced onion, garlic and 4 tbs water to the pan. Cover the pan, put it onto a medium heat then sweat for 7 minutes until the onions are soft.
3. Stir in the tomato puree then fry for 30 seconds, stirring constantly. Add the toasted giant cous cous back to the pan. Add 750ml stock or water. Bring to the boil. Lower the heat to medium then simmer gently for 14-16 minutes until the grains are soft throughout. Stir occasionally and add more stock as you go if the couscous starts to dry out. It should always be slightly soupy. Add the spinach, cover the pan, steam for 30-60 seconds until it wilts, once it does, fold it into the cous cous. Next, fold in the crème fraiche.
4. Get the sweet potatoes out of the oven. Stir half of them into the giant cous cous. Season to taste with salt, pepper and nutmeg. Transfer the cous cous mixture to your baking dish. Scatter the remaining sweet potato, sunblush tomatoes, almonds and then the remaining cheese over the top.
5. Grill under a medium heat for 3-5 minutes until golden. Keep an eye on it because grills vary enormously.
Enjoy!
Alex