Name: Cuscussù alla Livornese (Livornese Couscous with Meatballs, White Beans, and Greens)
Yield: Serves 6 to 8
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients: 6 cups water; Water or meat broth, as needed; 2 cups dried white beans, picked over and rinsed; 1 small head green cabbage, cut into halves or quarters, core removed, and cut crosswise into narrow strips; 1 head escarole, cored and cut into narrow strips; 1 cup English peas; 3 small zucchini, diced; 1 pound ground beef; 1 small onion, grated; Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste; Salt to taste; 1 tablespoon olive oil, if steaming instant way; 2 teaspoons salt, plus more to taste; 3 celery stalks, chopped; 1 egg, lightly beaten; 3 carrots, peeled and chopped; 2 cups chopped canned plum tomatoes; 2 cups Couscous; 3½ cups water, or part water and part meat broth; 2 tablespoons olive oil; 1 cup finely chopped cooked zucchini, leeks, or celery (optional); Olive oil for frying; 2 cloves garlic, smashed, plus 2 cloves, minced; 1½ cups meat broth for poaching; 3 tablespoons chopped fresh mint or basil; 2 onions, chopped; 3 tablespoons olive oil; 4 slices bread, soaked in water or broth, then squeezed dry; 4 tablespoons finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Preparation info

Serves
6 to 8

Difficulty
Medium

Appears in

Cucina Ebraica

By Joyce Goldstein

Published 1998

About

Geographical proximity is always a logical explanation for the migration of food and recipes. Therefore, we might safely assume that the famous cuscussù of Trapani was carried to Sicily from North Africa, which was quite close by ship. But couscous in Livorno? That’s another story indeed. It traveled there with North African Jews in the 1270s. In fact, so many Jews from Algeria, Tunisia, and Morocco settled in Livorno that the town was nicknamed Little Jerusalem. It is now safe to as