What is Pearl Couscous?

This recipe for Chicken Couscous with Cherries and Goat Cheese starts with a couscous you may not be so familiar with – pearl couscous. Although many people think of couscous as a grain (including those stocking the grocery shelves – you’ll find couscous with the rices and other grains), it is actually a type of pasta. Both couscous and pearl couscous are made of semolina flour and water. The main difference between the two is size – couscous (also known as Morrocan couscous) is grain sized, whereas pearl couscous (also known as Israeli couscous or giant couscous) is larger, more like a pea. 

Ingredients

This couscous with chicken, cherries and goat cheese is easy to prepare, especially if you have some leftover chicken or have purchased a rotisserie chicken. If you’re cooking the chicken from scratch, you could grill it, roast it or for the easiest and quickest solution, try air-frying it. Once you have your cooked chicken breast, you’ll just need a few other easily found ingredients in addition to the pearl couscous. If you can’t find pearl couscous in your area, try using orzo pasta.

How to Pit Cherries

This is a messy job. The easiest and fastest way to do it is to use a cherry pitter. It’s a cheap investment that will save you from a lot of splatter (but not all!) and it can pit olives too. If you don’t have a pitter, you can use the flat side of your chef’s knife and press down on the cherry to flatten it, making the pit easily retrievable. You can also use a skewer, inserted into the stem end of the cherry and move it around the pit to loosen it. Then, squeeze the pit out of the cherry. Finally, you can use a paring knife to cut the cherry in half, pulling the pit out as you go. But, as I mentioned before, the fastest and easiest way to pit a cherry is with a $10 cherry pitter. 

How to Cook Pearl Couscous

Most of the time, you’ll have instructions on your package of pearl couscous, telling you how to cook it. If you don’t, cooking pearl couscous is very easy. Just put a cup of couscous into 1½ cups boiling salted water, reduce the heat to a simmer, cover and cook for 10 to 12 minutes. The couscous should be tender by that point and there should be very little if any water left. If there is excess water, strain it away, but I predict the couscous will have absorbed it all. Then, just fluff with a flat spoon and you’re done. For this recipe, spread the couscous out on a sheet pan to cool to room temperature. It might stick together, but that’s no worry because it will be dressed when the salad is tossed.

Pearl Couscous in a Salad

The dressing for this dish is a very simple honey-mustard vinaigrette. Whisk that together and then put all the ingredients – couscous, scallions, chicken, cherries, almonds, basil, lemon zest – in a bowl. Drizzle the dressing on top, leaving a little for the final touches.

Make Ahead Options

You can have all the ingredients for this dish made ahead of time – cook and chop the chicken, pit the cherries, chop the scallions, toast the almonds, cook the couscous, make the dressing. This can all be done a day ahead of time. When it comes time to serve, just toss them together with the dressing and you’re done, scattering the goat cheese on top at the end. This couscous with chicken will also keep over a day as well, so you can enjoy leftovers. 

How to Serve

My preference is to serve this as a beautiful summer meal for 2 to 3 people, perhaps with some crunchy dressed Romaine lettuce leaves. You could also, however, serve it as one of a few summer salads, or even as a hearty side dish (with or without the chicken) to some grilled foods. Either way, enjoy!

Pearl Couscous with Chicken, Cherries and Goat Cheese