Ham and Cheese Couscous Bites
by JGJMatt in Cooking > Snacks & Appetizers
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Ham and Cheese Couscous Bites
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Hello fellow makers and bakers,
In this Instructable I would like to share with you my recipe for some delicious ham and cheese couscous bites.
These cheesy bites are perfect for a main alongside a salad, a side dish, party food or just an anytime snack!
Although this recipe is for a ham and cheese version there are dozens of other variations you can try out eg. mixed veggies, mac'n'cheese, roasted peppers...
Let's get started...
Supplies
Ingredients:
- 3/4 cup Couscous
- 1/4 teaspoon Salt
- 1/4 teaspoon Pepper
- 1 teaspoon Rice spice mix
Amazon - Robertson Spice for rice
- 1 tablespoon Chives (fresh or dried)
- 1 whole Egg
- 1 tablespoon All-purpose Flour
- 1 cup Cheddar cheese
- 100 grams Ham
- Olive oil
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What Is Couscous?
Couscous is a traditional Berber dish of semolina(granules of durum wheat) which is cooked by steaming.
It is traditionally served with a meat or vegetable stew spooned over it. Couscous is a staple food throughout the North African cuisines of Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Mauritania and Libya.
Making the Couscous:
First and most importantly we need our couscous, this recipe is actually best made with leftover couscous but you can also use a freshly made batch that has been left to cool completely.
Start by placing 3/4 of a cup couscous into a glass container. To that we add 1 teaspoon of olive oil, a pinch of salt and 1 cup of boiling water.
I also added a tablespoon of dried chives to re-hydrate with the couscous but if you are using fresh chives add them afterwards.
Cover your container and let it soak for 10 minutes.
Ham and Cheese:
Whilst waiting for the couscous to cool we can grab a knife and start slicing our ham.
I used 100 grams of sliced ham (about 10 slices) cut into small pea sized squares.
I add the chopped ham to a cup of grated cheddar cheese.
Do I have to use cheddar cheese?
You could also substitute other types of cheeses. These would be delicious with monterey jack cheese or gouda cheese or even some flavoured cheeses.
Spice It Up:
This is the step where you can go wild.
Because couscous has a very subtle flavour we are going to need to spice it up. Alongside your salt and pepper we also add in a tablespoon of flour, this will help everything bind when adding your egg later and keep it from falling apart when cooking.
Something I use a lot when cooking with couscous is "spice for rice", the one I use is a blend of onion, turmeric, garlic, mustard seeds, coriander, cumin, ginger, cayenne pepper, cinnamon and nutmeg. Not only does this add amazing flavour to the dish but also gives you that beautiful colour from the turmeric.
Mix It Up:
Mix together all of the dry ingredients before adding one lightly beaten egg to the mixture and combining.
You should be left with a cookie dough consistency, if it is too wet you can add in more flour.
Cooking:
First use a small scoop to form a uniform ball.
Next flatten balls gently with your hands or with the bottom of a flat glass. I place the patties on a parchment lined baking sheet. It makes it easy to remove each patty when ready to cook.
Tip: To make these a make-ahead meal, you can refrigerate the patties ahead of time and fry them up right before dinner.
Heat up 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil in a heavy pan over medium heat.
Cook, flipping once, until the patties are crisp and golden brown on both sides.
Trying to flip the patties before they have browned will cause them to break.
Almost There:
Transfer the cooked patties to a paper-towel lined plate to soak up any excess oil.
We are then ready to serve!
Condiment:
My absolute favourite way of having these is dipped into some home made sweet chilli sauce.
Ingredients:
- 20 red chillies, stems removed, deseeded for a milder sauce
- 1 finger sized piece of ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
- 5 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
- 100ml white wine or cider vinegar
- 200g white caster sugar
STEP 1
Tip all the ingredients except the sugar into a mini chopper or blender and blend to a chunky sauce. Scrape the contents into a shallow saucepan with the sugar and 100ml water and bring to a simmer.
STEP 2
Simmer for 15 mins, stirring occasionally until it becomes syrupy. Keeping a close eye on it, continue to simmer and stir for 5 mins more until it easily coats the back of the spoon and you see the bottom of the pan when you stir.
Enjoy!
