Jewelled Couscous Recipe with Puy Lentils & Pomegranate

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This jewelled couscous recipe is a Persian-inspired dish made with spiced couscous, puy lentils, nuts, fruits, herbs and pomegranate arils.

What is jewelled couscous?

Jewelled couscous is a Persian recipe made with spiced couscous, nuts, fruits, herbs and pomegranate arils. Visually impressive, it is often served on special occasions. The variety of colour and texture of the ingredients is what gives the dish its 'jewelled' name.

This is one of my recipes that's taken years to evolve, and it's never really the same twice. It's one of those use-up-whats-in-the-cupboards kinds of midweek recipes, but it's also good enough that you can serve it on special occasions, like when you're trying to make a seriously good first impression.

I began making a version of this recipe years ago as an easier alternative to jewelled Persian rice with tahdig, throwing in dried barberries, flaked almonds and a handful of chopped parsley and mint with the couscous.

Now, my jewelled couscous recipe is a gorgeous presentation of spice-infused couscous punctuated by various flavours, textures and little pops of juicy colour. A proper centrepiece, I think, so much, so my couscous recipe has its own special serving dish.

Ingredients you'll need…

• 250 grams couscous
• 300 ml hot vegetable stock (I use 1 Knorr vegetable stock pot)
• 1/2 tsp ground turmeric
• 6 tbsp olive oil, divided, plus extra to drizzle
• 250 grams cooked puy lentils
• 100 grams shelled pistachios
• 100 grams raw almonds
• 50 grams pine nuts
• 100 grams sultanas
• 250 grams pomegranate arils
• 4 finely chopped spring onions
• 25 grams fresh parsley
• 25 grams fresh coriander leaves
• zest and juice of 1 lemon
• salt and pepper, to taste

How to make this easy jewelled couscous

1. Place the couscous (tip: dry toast it in a pan for extra flavour) into a bowl along with the turmeric, olive oil, lemon zest, juice and vegetable stock.
2. Cover the bowl of couscous and leave it to sit for 10 minutes before fluffing the grains apart with a fork.
3. Toast the pine nuts (I used to add sauteed red onion, but I've changed the recipe).
4. Stir in the puy lentils, almonds, pistachios, sultanas and pomegranate arils.
5. Add the finely chopped herbs and a further drizzle of olive oil and a squeeze of lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
6. Transfer to a large serving dish and serve at room temperature.

What to serve with jewelled couscous

• Moroccan-inspired slow-cooked lamb
• Imam biyaldi
• simple creamy hummus drizzled with olive oil and garnished with toasted cumin seeds
• plain natural yoghurt drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with smoked paprika
• simple layered tomato salad
• grilled halloumi cheese with chilli
• flatbreads such as baladi or khobez
• dates

This is my most favourite kind of meal, a medley of flavours and textures. Best of all, everything can be prepared in advance, so there's very little that needs doing before serving other than plating it all up.

I like to make it look even more impressive by drizzling the side dishes with either chilli or lemon-infused olive oils, a sprinkling of smoked paprika here, a dash of crushed chilli pepper there.

To finish, chopped fresh herbs. It just looks… appealing. The presentation can mean a lot when it comes to food.