close

Hearty Pearl Couscous With Leeks And Dried Cherries

I honestly have no idea when I first had couscous, but I love the stuff.  I think my boys were eating couscous before they had rice.  Pearl (or Israeli) couscous is similar to regular couscous in that is it also a whole-grain food made from semolina or wheat flour.  Known as “ptitim“, Israel, pearl couscous, is often thought of as a whole grain, but it’s a type of pasta made of semolina flour and water. Ptitim is made by extruding dough through a round mold. It is then cut and toasted, which gives it a uniform grain-like shape and a unique nutty flavor.

pearl couscous

If you have never had it, grains of pearl couscous are slightly larger and more chewy than regular couscous.  It is similar to barley. Because pearl couscous is toasted, it has a slightly savory, almost nutty flavor. As with regular couscous on its own, pearl couscous on its own is rather bland but it’s extremely versatile, you can do almost anything with it.

pearl couscous with leeks

In this hearty recipe, I add my favorite, leeks, for a lovely, yet subtle onion flavor.  Slightly tart-dried cherries complement the earthy leeks nicely.  The walnuts add fiber, protein, crunch, and more nutty flavor.  There is very little to this simple vegetarian and vegan-friendly side dish, and that’s why I love it.  Not much prep work, and very little cooking is required; and you’re left with a fantastic, flavorful, side dish that works well with just about anything or even on its own. If you liked my Cauliflower quinoa vegetable rice, I’m willing to bet you will enjoy this recipe just as much.

pearl couscous with leeks

About the Author

Andrea Potischman

I am a professionally trained NYC chef turned CA mom and food blogger. I post about real food, with doable ingredient lists that are family friendly.

4 thoughts on "Hearty Pearl Couscous With Leeks And Dried Cherries"

  1. Avatar photo chris says:

    Would like to print without photo but do not see the print icon?

    1. Hi Chris-
      So sorry, I do not have that feature in operation right now as it was causing some issues while I was doing a site-wide recipe transfer project. You can easily copy and paste it into an e-mail or a Word document as an alternative option. I hope you make and enjoy this recipe, it’s a favorite of mine.

      Andrea

  2. Avatar photo Sara Leslie says:

    Yum, yum, yum! I didn’t have cherries so I used dried cranberries. And since green garlic is in season, used that instead of regular garlic. And I had mushrooms so sautéed and added those. It was delicious.

    1. Love this. You may need to start food blogging Sara 😉

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Comment Policy

Simmer + Sauce reserves the right to remove or restrict comments that do not contribute constructively to the topic conversation, contain profanity or offensive language, personal attacks, or seek to promote a personal or unrelated business. Any post found to be in violation of any of these guidelines will be modified or removed without warning. When making a comment on my blog, you grant Simmer + Sauce permission to reproduce your content to our discretion, an example being for a possible endorsement or media kit purposes. If you don’t want your comment to be used for such purposes, please explicitly state this within the body of your comment. If you find evidence of copyright infringement in the comments of simmerandsauce.com, contact me and I will remove that in question promptly.