A delightful recipe, combining shrimps with the sweet and savoury flavours of caramelised fennel and raisin-infused couscous. Preparation time will depend on how caramelized you like your fennel. I like to have it “al dente” about 20 minutes cooking which leaves plenty of room to prepare the remainder of the recipe.
Yield: 4 servings
Time: 30 minutes
Ingredients:
- 2 fennel bulbs, about 1 1/2 lbs (675 g)
- 1 tsp fennel seeds
- 2 cloves of garlic finely minced
- 3 Tbsp capers, rinsed and drained
- 3 Tbsp butter
- 3 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 lemon, sliced
- salt and freshly ground pepper
- 16-20 medium-sized shrimps, peeled, de-veined and tails left on
- flour to dust the shrimps
- 1 1/2 cups (260 g) couscous
- 1 3/4 cup (420 ml) water or vegetable stock
- 1/4 cup (40 g) raisins or sultanas
- 1 Tbsp butter
- 2 scallions, thinly sliced
- 3 Tbsp flat-leaf parsley, chopped
Preparation:
Fill a bowl with cold water and add a lemon slice. Set aside.
Trim fennel bulb and keep some of the green fronds for garnish. Halve fennel bulb lengthwise remove hardcore and discard. Slice it thinly. Drop sliced fennel in the acidulated water to prevent fennel from getting dark.
Heat 2 tablespoons butter and 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the drained fennel, fennel seeds, garlic and reduce the heat to medium. Stir now and then until fennel is caramelized about 20 minutes. Take care not to let fennel get too dry or brown too quickly. If it does, add 1-2 tablespoon of water. Add capers and continue cooking until fennel is crisp-tender. Add lemon juice and parsley. Season with salt and pepper. While fennel is cooking, prepare the couscous and shrimps.
The raisin couscous: Bring water to a boil in a saucepan. Remove from the heat. Add the raisins, couscous, butter, salt, and pepper. Cover saucepan and let couscous swell for about 10 minutes. Uncover, fluff it up with a fork and add the scallions. Keep it warm until you serve.
The shrimps: 16-20 medium sized shrimps, peeled and deveined, tails left on. Season shrimps with salt and pepper. Dust them lightly with flour. Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Add shrimps and cook them until they just turn pink. Set aside and keep it warm.
To serve: Arrange caramelized fennel over the raisin couscous and top it with the shrimp. Garnish with parsley and fennel fronds.
