Pumpkin Cous Cous

So the other night I made Sauteed Cous cous with Roasted Pumpkin and I loved it. Here's the best I can give for the recipe so far.

2 cups of diced pumpkin tossed in 1 TB olive oil, 1 tsp of ground cumin, 1 tsp dried oregano, hefty pinch of salt and a few grinds of fresh black pepper. Place in a 350 degree oven for 30-45 minutes, until tender.

Roasted pumpkin bites. As the pumpkin roasts, the pieces shrink up and the flavors concentrate. Wonderful.

While the pumpkin is roasting, cook your Israeli cous cous until it's nearly al dente--five minutes maybe? You want to be a moment away from fully tender pasta. It will cook a minute longer later.

Here's where I don't have a photo. Saute half a medium onion that has been finely diced in 1 TB of olive oil. Let the onion carmelize and get some brown color. Add 1 garlic clove, sliced. Stir into the onion and give a minute to start to cook and release it's garlic aroma. Then, add your cooked cous cous. Stir to incorporate with the onions and to pick up some of the olive oil. Have you heat on high. Everything will be sizzling and making great noise. Keep stirring. As the pan starts to dry out, add 2-3 TB of a dry white wine. This last addition will pick up any bits of flavor left in the pan and finish the cooking of the cous cous. When the wine is absorbed, add the roasted pumpkin.

Fold the pumpkin into the couscous until well incorporated. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt & pepper.

I served my cous cous with a roasted chicken thigh, seasoned with a French blend of spices--containing cinnamon. I expected the flavors to go really well together, but in this case, the cinnamon didn't supplement or enhance the pumpkin flavors. It was fine chicken, but nothing to write about.

The cous cous was wonderful and I loved it almost as much as I love my Bazaar Cous cous. This was a great new side dish. Look forward to having this again.