A watercolour of pale couscous with raisins and flaked almonds, topped with pieces of sardine — Generated with OpenAI gpt-image-1

Adapted from Sicilian and North African pairings of oily fish with semolina grain

Sardine and lemon couscous

Name: Sardine and lemon couscous
Prep time: 8 min
Total time: 14 min
Yield: 2 servings
Ingredients: 150 g Couscous; 2 pack Sardines (tinned, in oil); 30 g Raisins; 20 g Almonds (flaked); 25 ml Lemon juice (bottled); 3 g Cumin (ground); 1 g Chilli flakes; 3 g Salt (fine)

An established dish converted to shelf-stable ingredients. Every substitution is documented below.

How long it keeps

About 6 months, set by Raisins.

Indicative, for planning a build before you buy. The answer for a pack you already own is the best before date printed on it, and that only holds if it has been stored as the label says.

Serves

Burners

Pans

Water

0.3 L

Active

8 min

Total

14 min

Ingredients

Almonds toasted dry in the pan, two minutes, out.
Couscous in a bowl with the raisins, cumin, chilli and salt, plus a spoonful of the sardine oil.
180 ml boiling water poured over. Covered. Five minutes, lid on.
Forked through. Sardines folded in gently, they break up easily and you want pieces, not paste.
Lemon juice, generously, and the almonds over.

The raisins go in at the start so they plump in the steam rather than staying hard.

Serves 2.

What this was adapted from

Sicilian and North African pairings of oily fish with semolina grain

fresh sardines grilled over charcoal → tinned sardines folded through at the end

Grilled fresh sardines are a different and better thing. Tinned ones are already cooked and go in last, bringing their oil into the couscous -- softer, saltier, and available anywhere.