Fusilli with spinach and couscous

Fusilli with spinach and couscous

I saw this recipe on tv, and added some variations of my own. A very easy one, and quite good for a summer lunch. I suppose it would be really good with some grilled chicken or some tuna, or even some white sauce, but there is no need to make a thick sauce for this recipe I think, since the fusilli seems quite delicious and refreshing without any sauce to weigh it down.

3 cups of fusilli pasta
1/2 kg spinach bundle
1 cup of couscous or breadcrumbs
2 cups chicken or beef stock*
1 egg
a couple of garlic cloves
1 tsp crushed nutmeg
dried basil
dried oregano
chili flakes
salt and pepper to taste
parmesan cheese for garnishing
extra virgin olive oil
vegetable oil for frying

*Omit if using bread crumbs instead of couscous, and use just a half cup of stock for making the sauce.

Boil the pasta as per the packet instructions in boiling, salted water for 8 to 10 minutes. Drain and drizzle with the extra virgin olive oil to avoid clumping. Wash the spinach thoroughly to get rid of dirt. Cut the stalks from the spinach leaves and wash again, then drain away all the excess water. In a big pan, cook the spinach without any water just until a little tender, for about 2 minutes. Drain and cool in the fridge or freezer.

Heat two cups of water in a pan and dissolve ready made chicken stock or use fresh if you like. In a heat proof bowl, layer the couscous evenly. Then pour over1and a 1/2 cups of the hot chicken stock and cover for 20 minutes. Fluff it up with a fork and set aside.

After the spinach has cooled, blend it in the food processor. Add the couscous, salt and pepper, basil and oregano, and some of the crushed garlic and nutmeg. Finally add the egg and blitz well. Scrape out the mixture, and form cakes or balls and set in the fridge to cool. Meanwhile, heat some vegetable oil in a shallow frying pan and fry the spinach cakes on each side on medium heat for 2 minutes. Take them out on a kitchen towel to absorb the excess oil.

Reduce the half cup of chicken stock that was left and add some extra virgin olive oil, chili flakes, the rest of the crushed garlic, basil, oregano and salt and pepper to make a sauce. Toss the pasta in the sauce and serve in bowls immediately with the spinach and couscous cakes. Garnish with Parmesan cheese.

::UPDATE::

This recipe made a good amount of leftovers, so for lunch yesterday, I made a white sauce with cheese for the fusilli pasta, and guess what? I guess I was wrong about the sauce weighing the pasta down, for it complimented it brilliantly! Browsing through the history and recipes for fusilli pasta, I came to know that it's broad, spirally shape was perfect for dunking in bucket loads of sauce or gravy. So, I made the white sauce and melt some cheddar cheese in it, seasoned it well with salt and white pepper and sprinkled generously with basil and oregano. Dunked the fusilli in the sauce to absorb some of the gorgeous flavours and chopped up some breakfast sausages and together with the spinach and couscous cakes, they made for a fabulous lunch, which I ate in hearty mouthfuls :)