Merguez, Couscous & Courgettes

📝 Ingredients

• 4 merguez sausages (about 55 g each)
• 2 courgettes (about 200 g each)
• 1 tin chickpeas (265 g drained)
• 1 garlic clove
• 1 tsp ground cumin + 1 tsp harissa
• 100 g medium couscous + 120 ml boiling water
• 125 g plain whole milk yoghurt (1 pot)
• 1 tsp dried mint
• Salt, black pepper

🍴 Utensils

• Large frying pan (28 cm)
• Kitchen tongs
• Mixing bowl
• Kettle
• Fork
• Chopping board and knife

📖 Steps

1. Wash the courgettes, trim the ends, then cut them into 1 cm thick half-moons. Rinse the chickpeas under cold water and drain well. Peel and finely chop the garlic.
2. Make the sauce: mix the yoghurt with the dried mint, crumbled between your fingers, and a pinch of salt. Keep in the fridge: its freshness will soften the heat of the merguez and harissa.
3. Put the merguez in the cold frying pan, with no fat and without pricking them, then cook for 10 min over a medium heat, turning often with tongs, until golden all over. Set aside on a plate covered with another plate.
4. Leave about 1 tbsp of the rendered fat in the pan and soak up the excess with kitchen paper. Turn up to a medium-high heat, add the courgettes in a single layer and let them brown for 5 min, stirring only 2 or 3 times.
5. Add the chickpeas, garlic, cumin and harissa, season lightly with salt and add pepper. Sauté for 3 min, stirring: the courgettes should be golden and tender but still slightly firm, and the chickpeas well coated in spices.
6. Meanwhile, put the couscous in a mixing bowl with a pinch of salt. Add the boiling water, stir, cover with a plate and leave to swell for 5 min. Then fluff up with a fork to separate the grains.
7. Cut the merguez into 3 cm pieces and return them to the pan with the vegetables for 1 min, just to warm through and coat them in the spicy juices.
8. Divide the couscous between the plates, add the vegetables and merguez, then a generous spoonful of mint yoghurt. Serve immediately, taking a little yoghurt with each mouthful to soften the heat.