Israeli Couscous

I have had an argument with my husband for a while now, in fact every time I cook this dish. The very first time I prepared Israeli couscous, I called it farfelah by it's other name. He could not believe me that this is an old Ashkenazim Jewish dish. He was convinced and tried really hard to show me the error of my thinking by telling me that farfelah in a bow tie shaped pasta and pronounced farfalle. I remember my mom telling me how this pasta was made at home by manually pushing dough through metal colander with round holes in its bottom, and sliced off with a knife. Although I never seen it - I imagined it rather vividly. The fact that it is also called Israeli couscous did not occur to me until I seen it on the package. Well, guess who won in this culinary dispute? I do not get to win often but this argument would not be lost by me! Luckily, there is wikipedia.

Farfel is not related to the similar-sounding falafel and farfalle.

 I have made this as a side dish occasionally and without anything fancy about it. I start by sauteing onion in oil or butter then adding pasta and slightly toasting it with the onion and then adding water, salt and pepper. The entire dish is done in about 10 min. Has an interesting texture and be flavored in many ways.

Recently, on a shopping trip to one of my favorite stores - Trader Joe's I came across a package with a blend of different things but Farfeleh as a main ingredient. I was happy and decided to make it something more out of this blend.

1 onion chopped

1 celery rib chopped

2 carrots shredded

1 zucchini diced

1 c of broccoli florets
10-12 garlic cloves sliced

1 tsp herb de Provence

2 tbsp julienned sun dried tomatoes in oil

8 oz(1/2 bag) couscous blend

oil for sauteing vegetables.

salt and pepper

 Saute onions and as they become opaque add carrots, followed by celery and zucchini, followed by half of the garlic, salt, paper and herbs. The couscous mix is added then and sauteed for another minute or so, then 2 cups of water and the sun dried tomatoes. Everything is mixed in and cooked covered for about 5 in, then the broccoli florets mixed in the pasta, which at this point is bulked 

Israeli couscous with sauteed onion

up with water. Remaining garlic is added now, too. The dish is ready in another 3-5 min. I think it would work well if shrimps are tossed in with broccoli, or sliced up flavored chicken sausage, the kind that is sold at Costco. In fact, this was a side dish to a roasted pepper chicken sausage. It makes great one pot meal in under 20 min.