Improvised side
Saturday, my husband had bought some merguez (spicy North African sausages made of everything but pork, obviously) from our very good local butcher. Local, as in less than 200m from our doorstep! Thing is, I’m never quite sure what to serve with them. For me, merguez are best served on top of a gigantic North African couscous with lamb, chicken, vegetables sauce, etc… It’s also perfect to have during summer fairs, grilled on the barbecue and served in very fresh baguette bread (an improved version of a hot dog, if you like).
I really wasn’t feeling like cooking a whole couscous dish and we’d had couscous salad in the previous week. But I wanted a bit more than just a bit of bread around my merguez. So I had a look in our cupboards. It was a Monday night, so it was a bit empty (I receive our groceries on Tuesdays). But I always have some staples. Tinned tomatoes, onions and the odd beans tin (in this case, chickpeas). All of that ended in a very tasty side dish that worked very well with our merguez.
I started by chopping an onion and frying it in a little bit of olive oil. I then added some spices: 1 teaspoon of cumin seeds, 1 teaspoon of paprika, a generous pinch of garlic salt and a pinch of chilli powder (just a pinch as the merguez are already quite hot). I fried that until the onions were all covered with the spices. Then I added the tin of tomatoes, rinsed with a little bit of water. And the chickpeas (without their water). I gave it a good stir, added a pinch of sugar as the tomatoes were quite acidic and a little bit of salt for seasoning. I then simmered that gently for 20-30min, stirring occasionally until the sauce had thickened.
It was perfect with the merguez. It reminded me of these giant couscous dishes we used to have when I was a child without all the hassle. I suppose it could be served with some couscous grains as well if you really wanted to, but for the 2 of us, it was more than enough.
I love improvising in the kitchen. Some of my favourite dishes are just that, improvised (but I do make note of them, so that I can remake them!).
You’re so lucky to have a local butcher that stocks merguez, I can’t find them anywhere near where I live and I looooove couscous!!! One of my favourite dishes!
Couscous is good, innit? It always reminds me of the huge family reunions we used to have when I was a child. :)
My butcher is only 15-20min from London Bridge by overland train. Depending on where you work (you work in London, right?), maybe this could be do-able?
Oh I don’t know, I’d have to be desperate!! Yes I work in London, but not really anywhere near London Bridge… I might go see my local butcher and bully him into stocking merguez!!
Ah! Bullying a big man with big knives sound like a terrific idea! :P