Now That's What I Call Lunch! Couscous and Sausage-Veggie Ragout

Hello, readers! Sincerest apologies for my absence.  But when AF gets the sniffles, she doesn't like to use the family PC.  I'm feeling refreshed, revitalized, and super-amped about this week's food.  Last night we had gyros from one of the most bang-for-your-buck places around (and they were delicious!), and we have scheduled a super-fun dinner outing with my food-loving auntie to one of my favorite (favorite!) Spanish tapas restaurants ever.  There shall be photos.

But for now I must once again wax poetic about one of my favorite activities (second only to eating amazing food): Cooking!

This morning I was hungry for lunch, and not just some blah turkey-sandwich-and-carrot-sticks-type meal.  But we as a household are in desperate need of a trip to replenish our food supplies.  Now, in these dreary days just before you must, must, must hit the grocery store, ingredients are sparse and, quite often, puzzling.  What's a foodie to do?  Give up?

No, sir!  Instead, I decided to employ the ingenuity required of a contestant on Food Network's Chopped.  The mystery basket ingredients? Dry couscous, one frozen bratwurst, mini sweet peppers, and frozen spinach.

What I came up with was pretty tasty (just ask my mom!).  And here it is:

AF's Couscous and Sausage-Veggie Ragout:

Ingredients

About 4-5 mini sweet peppers
1 frozen bratwurst
1 c. frozen spinach
1 c. dried couscous
Paprika
Granulated garlic
Nutmeg
Chili flakes
Olive oil
1/2 Tsp. unsalted butter
Feta cheese (or any cheese you like for garnishing...we just happened to have feta)
Water

Directions:

For the ragout:

1. In a frying pan or skillet, let the frozen bratwurst start to sear.  As the brat is cooking, prep the sweet peppers.  I like to just cut off the tops, halve them lengthwise and clean out the seeds and ribs, then slice them into strips.
2. Once the brat is seared on both sides, use a sharp knife to cut it up into small chunks.  Return the chunks to the frying pan and let them caramelize a little.
3. As soon as the meat has some nice color on it, add the peppers.  If there isn't much brat grease in the pan, you may need to add a little olive oil.
4. When the peppers become fragrant, add the spinach.  I would recommend covering the pan with either a lid or a splatter shield until all the spinach is nicely thawed...it might spit at you a little.  Allow the greens to heat through and shrink a little.
5. To finish off the ragout, add a pinch or so of each of the spices (paprika, garlic, nutmeg, chili), to your taste.  Then add a touch of water, no more than a quarter cup, turn down the heat to low, and cover for about two minutes.  Then it's ready to serve.

For the couscous:

1. In a small saucepan boil 1 cup of salted water.
2. Once the water boils, add the cup of couscous.  Stir quickly and cover for about 5 minutes.
3. After 5 minutes fluff the couscous with a fork.  I like to add about 1/2 tablespoon of butter.  Mix it in, and taste to see if the pasta needs any more salt.

Just top a nice pile of the couscous with a hearty spoonful of ragout, then garnish with cheese to taste.

Until next time (when we talk tapas), happy eating!

~AF