A recipe from Carloforte, a small town on the island of San Pietro off the southwest coast of Sardinia, offers a taste of Mediterranean cooking. This dish reflects the region’s history, influenced by Arab cuisine from Tabarca, near the coast of Tunisia, and by people from Liguria in northwest Italy who settled in Carloforte for fishing. The recipe combines seasonal vegetables and couscous with a blend of spices.
The dish can be served warm or cold the next day. It serves four to six people.
Ingredients
1 lemon, 4 artichokes, 250 grams (9 ounces) couscous, 2 zucchini thinly sliced, 1 small eggplant chopped into 1-centimeter cubes, 2 carrots peeled and chopped into 1-centimeter cubes, half a cauliflower chopped into florets, 1 onion thinly sliced, half a Savoy cabbage sliced lengthways and then into small chunks, 150 grams (5.5 ounces) cooked chickpeas, 2.25 teaspoons La Saporita spice mix (or a homemade version), extra virgin olive oil, fine sea salt, and freshly ground black pepper.
Method
First, prepare the artichokes. Fill a bowl with water and squeeze in the juice from the lemon halves, then drop the squeezed halves into the bowl. Hold an artichoke firmly and use a small, sharp knife to remove the tough, dark green outer leaves at the base. Cut off the top 1 to 2 centimeters of the artichoke, where the leaves are still tough, and leave about 2.5 centimeters of the stem attached. Use a vegetable peeler or paring knife to peel the tough outer layer of the stem. Cut the artichoke in half and use a teaspoon to scoop out the fuzzy choke in the middle. Cut it in half again so it is quartered. Place the artichoke quarters immediately in the lemon water to prevent browning. Repeat with the remaining artichokes, leaving the quarters in the water until needed.
Put the couscous in a bowl, add a pinch of salt and a drizzle of oil, and then cover with boiling water to 1 centimeter above the couscous. Give it a quick stir and cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a plate and set aside. Thinly slice the artichokes, then heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat and add the zucchini, artichokes, and eggplant. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in another large frying pan over medium-high heat and add the carrots, cauliflower, onion, and cabbage. Stir both pans often.
After 5 minutes, add the chickpeas to the pan with the zucchini, artichokes, and eggplant and continue cooking for around 10 minutes, or until all the vegetables in both pans are cooked but still have some crunch. Once the vegetables are cooked, divide the spice mixture between the two pans, season with salt and pepper, and stir everything together. Cook for another minute, then remove the pans from the heat. Transfer the cooked couscous to a large bowl and fluff it up with a fork. Stir in the cooked vegetables and 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Serve right away or at room temperature.
For a homemade spice mix, combine half a teaspoon of ground coriander, a quarter teaspoon each of ground cinnamon, ground cloves, and ground nutmeg, half a teaspoon of ground caraway seeds, and half a teaspoon of aniseed or ground star anise.
This couscous dish is a staple from the island of San Pietro, where local cooking blends Italian and North African traditions. Sardinia is one of the world’s Blue Zones, areas where people live longer than average. Diets in these regions are often plant-based and high in fiber, similar to the vegetables and chickpeas in this recipe. The dish provides about 350 calories, 13 grams of protein, 60 grams of carbohydrates, and 8 grams of fat per serving, according to the cookbook. These figures are estimates and may vary based on the specific ingredients used.
