Cuscussù

Prep Time: 3 hours,

Cook Time: 3 hours,

Ingredients:

• For the semola: 2 1/4 pounds (1 k) coarse semola
• An emulsion made by beating together 3 eggs, salt, 1/2 cup olive oil, and 1 tablespoon water
• For the soup: A battuto obtained by mincing 4 onions, 2 carrots, 3 ribs celery
• 1 head cabbage, cut into thin strips, 10 ounces (300 g) peas, 3 carrots, 3 ribs celery
• 3 zucchini, and 1 pound (500 g) canned tomatoes
• For the meatballs: 10 ounces (300 g) ground meat
• 3 eggs, Salt, Grated cheese, 1 potato, 1 onion, grated, Minsed Parsley,
• 1/2 a loaf of white bread (what's called pane a cassetta in Italy), dipped in milk and squeezed dry
• (Mix all, form the mixture into balls, and fry sauté them over a fairly brisk flame)
• For the beans to go with the meatballs: 2 1/4 pounds (1 k) white beans, soaked over night
• 1 pound (1/2 k) canned tomatoes, Salt and pepper,
• A soffritto made by mincing 3 large onions and sautéing them until light gold in abundant olive oil
• Add the beans to the soffritto, then stir in the tomatoes and add boiling water to cover. Cook, adding more water as
• necessary, until the beans are done; they should be rather liquid. Cook the meatballs in the beans for a few minutes
• after simmering them in the soup.
• ** Kosher Cuscus Meatballs **
• 1 1/2 pounds (700 g) ground beef
• 1 egg
• 1/2 an onion minced
• 3 tablespoons bread paste made by dipping bread in broth and squeezing it dry
• 3 artichokes
• 2 zucchini
• A piece of cauliflower
• For the sautéing:
• 1 egg
• Breadcrumbs
• Salt, pepper
• Oil for frying

Preparation:

To make cuscus you'll need a cuscussiera: Two pots stacked one atop the other forming a perfect seal, with the upper pot's bottom being holed like a sieve to allow steam to rise

Begin as if you were making minestrone: prepare a soffritto in a large pot by mincing carrots, onions and celery and sautéing them in good olive oil. When the onion has turned golden, add the vegetables -- shredded cabbage, peas, diced carrots and zucchini, and celery. When the vegetables have wilted put them into the bottom of the cuscussiera, with water, and cover it with a lid. Once the pot comes to a boil, replace the lid with the upper half of the cuscussiera, which you will want to fill with the semolina you have been preparing while the pot heats.

You'll need coarse grained, cuscus semola; work it in a bowl for more than a half hour, with beaten eggs mixed with water. Work it by hand, rubbing it between the palms and moistening it a little at a time. It shouldn't form up into dough, but swell, staying loose as it absorbs the moisture from the water and the eggs.

Cook the semola for an hour over the cuscussiera (it won't drop through the holes), during which time it will absorb the aromas from the minestrone simmering below it. After the hour, turn the cuscus back into the bowl, and work it some more, moistening it with a little vegetable broth if it's overly dry. It has to be worked patiently, rubbed between the palms, for another hour. A good cuscus takes time, and should be light and airy. If it squeaks it's not ready.

Return the semolina thus obtained to the cuscussiera and cook it for another hour. Work it for another five minutes, turning it with a slotted spoon, and add a little unsweetened butter to make it softer.

Serve it in individual bowls, with the greens and meatballs.

The meatballs should be marble-sized, and are made with ground beef, chopped onion, potatoes cheese, and enough spices of choice to make them spicy. They're cooked separately, and added to the broth only at the last minute, when they're firm and won't crumble, to absorb some flavor from the soup. They're then removed from the pot and served with well-sauced beans cooked with garlic and onion in the uccelletto style.

The diners combine the greens, cuscus, and beans with meatballs as they prefer.

A note: You will have noted that her meatballs are not kosher. To make them kosher, omit the cheese and soak the bread in broth rather than milk to moisten it. And here is a Sephardic recipe (ingredients above):

Polpette per Cuscussù -- Moksci
Combine the meat, bread paste, egg, and season the mixture to taste with salt and pepper. Strip away all the tough outer leaves of the artichokes, cut them in half, discarding any fuzz you may find in the chokes, and cut them into wedges; cut the other vegetables into wedges too, and wrap a little meat around each piece of vegetable so as to form balls. Dip each meatball thus obtained into a lightly beaten egg, roll it in breadcrumbs, and fry them in hot oil.

Set a pot on the fire with a minced clove of garlic and the onion, and sauté the vegetables n olive oil until they onion is golden, then add some water and a dot of tomato paste, and finish cooking the meatballs in the sauce.

Use them instead of the non-kosher meatballs.

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