Cuscussù alla Livornese

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

Livornese Couscous with Meatballs, White Beans, and Greens

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

Ingredients

Europe
Italy
Main course
Sicily
Mediterranean

Ingredients

Method