Couscous and chicken rissoles
Makes 24
The mixture can be made a day ahead.
Nothing beats homemade food. Rich in good quality ingredients and peppered with love, this dish is packed with goodness. In a word, it’s freaking awesome. It’s a festival of flavours, healthy, light and definitely morish.
This is such a versatile dish. You can serve it for dinner with a salad, you can stuff it in a bun and use it as a burger, you can have it for lunch or brunch. You can prepare the mixture a day ahead. You can coat it with flour, breadcrumbs and eggs for a crispy crunch (which I just love) or you can just make the rissole and bake it in the oven without the added crust. It still tastes divine.
Couscous ingredients
3 ¼ cups water
3 cups couscous
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 vegetable stock cube
2 teaspoons garlic salt
Chicken mixture ingredients
1kg chicken-breast mince
2 tablespoons oil + 1 tablespoon oil extra
1 Spanish onion, diced
200g button mushrooms, stem removed and cut into small pieces
1 medium carrot, finely grated
1 medium zucchini, finely grated
1 bunch continental parsley, chopped
1 teaspoon cumin
1 ½ teaspoons turmeric
1 ½ teaspoons sweet paprika
1 teaspoon baharat
Salt and pepper
1 chicken stock cube dissolved in 2-3 tablespoons of boiling hot water
Oil spray or oil for brushing
Couscous
Method
In a medium saucepan, bring the water to the boil. Add salt, stock and oil. Stir until the stock has dissolved. Turn off the heat and add the couscous, cover tightly with a lid, and let the couscous steam for five minutes. Using a fork, fluff the couscous to break up clumps set a side.
Chicken mixture
Method
On medium-high heat, fry onions with two tablespoons of oil for about 5 minutes, add garlic and extra oil. Cook for a minute then add chicken. Stir chicken mince to avoid clumps, add spices then add mushrooms, and cook till the mushrooms shrink a little in size. Add grated carrot, zucchini and parsley, stir to combine, keep stirring to stop clumps from forming. (If clumps are formed you can separate with your fingers later) add the chicken stock dissolved in water and stir for a minute.
Turn off the heat and let chicken mixture cool down.
Transfer the chicken mixture to a very large bowl and add couscous. Mix couscous thoroughly.
There are two option to bake these beauties
Option one with batter
Batter
Ingredients
Flour
3 Eggs
Breadcrumbs
Method
Pre-heat the oven to 200C
Line two baking trays with baking paper
Break eggs and whisk in a shallow bowl. Pour flour into another bowl and in a third shallow bowl pour bread crumbs.
Using your hands make a rissole out of the mixture and dip rissole in the flour then in the egg then the breadcrumbs.
Place prepared rissoles on the baking tray lined with baking paper.
Spray oil on top or brush the tops with oil and place in the oven for 25-30 minutes.
Option 2 no batter
Pre-heat the oven to 200C
Line a large baking tray with baking paper
Grab a handful of couscous mixture, shape into a rissole, place in the tray and once full spray or brush with oil and put in the oven for approx. 25-30 minutes.
I have to say, I have made both. They both taste delicious but the one with the batter has this delectable crispy outer layer…