Recipe for Couscous with Roasted Tomatoes and Kalamata Olives

This is one of my favorite dishes and with my brother coming home tomorrow it's the perfect time to make it. In our family food is love and we haven't seen my brother in a month so my mother and I are making a nice dinner for his homecoming. I am going to make grilled steaks, israeli couscous and corn chowder and my mom is bringing a salad and dessert.

I first discovered this recipe on the website www.smittenkitchen.com and have made it several times since. The first thing you do is roast the tomatoes with whole garlic cloves in the oven. The whole house smells like an Italian Cucina and the results are lovely. It is very healthy as well because it's made with couscous which is high in fiber. Honestly, it's a meal in itself and whenever there are leftovers I stash away enough for lunch the next day. Once you've made this, it will be a dish you will want to make over and over again.

Pearl Couscous with Olives and Roasted Tomatoes
Gourmet, September 2002
Makes 6 servings

For roasted tomatoes and dressing:

2 pt red grape or cherry tomatoes (1 1/2 lb)
3 large garlic cloves, left unpeeled
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup warm water
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

For couscous:
2 3/4 cups chicken broth
2 1/4 cups pearl (Israeli) couscous
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup Kalamata or other brine-cured black olives, pitted and chopped
1/3 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Roast tomatoes and make dressing:

Preheat oven to 250°F.
Halve tomatoes through stem ends and arrange, cut sides up, in 1 layer in a large shallow (1-inch-deep) baking pan. Add garlic to pan and roast in middle of oven until tomatoes are slightly shriveled around edges, about 1 hour. Cool in pan on a rack 30 minutes.

Peel garlic and puree with oil, water, lemon juice, salt, pepper, and 1/2 cup roasted tomatoes in a blender until dressing is very smooth.

Make couscous: Bring broth to a boil in a 3-quart heavy saucepan and stir in couscous, then simmer, uncovered, 6 minutes. Cover pan and remove from heat. Let stand 10 minutes.
Spread couscous in 1 layer on a baking sheet and cool 15 minutes. Transfer couscous to a bowl and stir in remaining ingredients, dressing, roasted tomatoes, and salt and pepper to taste.