🌊 Cold Mediterranean couscous
🍽️ Course
Cold couscous with tuna, Taggiasca olives, capers and cherry tomatoes. A summer one-pot meal ready in 30 minutes, perfect to carry.
Cold Mediterranean couscous
Set the amount of ingredients you want to use with one of the two options below:
Quantity
Medium couscous (min g, max g):
g
1. Ingredients
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| Medium couscous | 320 g |
| Tuna in extra-virgin olive oil (good quality) | 320 g |
| Cherry tomatoes | 300 g |
| Medium cucumber | 200 g (1 cucumber) |
| Taggiasca olives | 80 g |
| Capers in salt (rinsed) | 2 tbsp |
| Fresh spring onions | 30 g (2 spring onions) |
| Fresh basil | to taste |
| Fresh oregano (or dried) | 4 g |
| Lemon (juice; zest optional) | 40 ml (1 lemon) |
| Extra-virgin olive oil (for dressing) | 40 g |
| Extra-virgin olive oil (for couscous and finishing) | to taste |
| Water (or light vegetable stock) | 380 ml |
| Salt, black pepper | to taste |
2. Method
- Bring 380 ml water to the boil with a pinch of salt. Pour it over the 320 g couscous with a drizzle of oil, stir briefly, cover with a plate or lid and let it rest for 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork and let it cool completely.
- Cut the 300 g cherry tomatoes into quarters, dice the 200 g cucumber into small cubes and slice the 30 g spring onions into thin rounds. Place everything in a large bowl.
- Rinse the 2 tbsp capers under running water to remove excess salt. Drain the 320 g tuna, reserving a little of its oil. Pit the 80 g Taggiasca olives if necessary.
- In a large bowl, combine the cold couscous with the vegetables, the tuna broken into large chunks, olives and capers. Dress with 40 g extra-virgin olive oil, the juice of the lemon (40 ml), the oregano (4 g), salt and freshly ground black pepper. Toss gently.
- Cover the bowl with a plate or lid and let it rest in the refrigerator for 20-30 minutes. This step allows the flavours to meld together.
- Serve garnished with fresh basil leaves torn by hand and a drizzle of oil. Keeps in the fridge, covered, until the next day; adjust oil and lemon before serving.
3. Storage
- Room temperature: consume within 2 hours of preparation due to the presence of tuna; beyond this time, bacterial growth becomes a real risk, especially in summer.
- Refrigerator: keeps covered for up to 24 hours; the flavours meld further and the dish actually improves after a few hours of rest. Adjust oil and lemon before serving.
- Freezer: not recommended. The couscous turns gummy upon thawing and the raw vegetables (cherry tomatoes, cucumber, spring onion) lose all crunch, releasing water and becoming soggy.
🌾 Want to explore couscous flavour bases further? Read the full guide.