Couscous with Pine Nuts & Currants

This couscous side dish hits all the right notes: nutty pine nuts, sweet dried currants, earthy mushrooms, and aromatic herbes de Provence, all bound together by buttery, fluffy grains.

Toasting the pine nuts with the mushrooms in butter first is smart. The pine nuts turn golden and develop a deeper, almost caramel-like flavor that they’d never get just tossed in raw. Watch them closely though. Pine nuts go from golden to burnt in about 30 seconds.

The couscous cooks entirely off the heat. Once the chicken broth hits a boil, stir in the couscous, cover, and walk away for 10 minutes. It steams itself perfectly. Fluff with a fork before serving to separate the grains.

Kitchen Tips

• Toast the pine nuts in the butter over medium heat, stirring constantly. They burn easily and unevenly if you don’t keep them moving.
• Use the freshest dried currants you can find. Old, dried-out currants stay hard even after cooking. They should be plump and slightly tacky.
• Fluff the couscous with a fork, never a spoon. A spoon compresses the grains and turns them stodgy.

Variations

• Swap currants for golden raisins or chopped dried apricots for a different sweet note.
• Add crumbled feta and a squeeze of lemon juice after fluffing for a Mediterranean grain salad.
• Use vegetable broth instead of chicken broth to make this fully vegetarian.