It’s Halloween and why not make something with pumpkin?  I made a sauce a few years back that incorporated pumpkin and a spicy garlic sauce. Probably Sriracha.  This was a recipe I pulled from Food & Wine.  Here is the link to the original recipe.  www.foodandwine.com/recipes/spicy-cheddar-and-pumpkin-orzo-arugula. The recipe called for orzo, but I found if I mixed it into couscous, it became an amazing cool-weather side dish. Dare I suggest a possible Thanksgiving side? Ahh….Thanksgiving. Table that thought, we will get back to Thanksgiving…

Ok, here’s my rendition of what I tried. I used an extra spice and changed some of the amounts. Please make this your own. Change the cheese, change the grain. Let me know how it turns out. Trick or Treat!

Spicy Pumpkin and Cheddar Couscous

Serves 4 1/2 cup servings

1  cup couscous

1  cup water

1 cup  organic pumpkin puree

1/2 tsp dijon mustard

1/4 tsp allspice

1-2 tbls Sriracha ( you control the heat here)

6 oz  hand shredded White Cheddar cheese

1-2 tsp water

salt /pepper to taste

freshly grated nutmeg

Toasted Walnuts

1/4 -1/2 cup water

Method

• Heat 1 cup water for couscous in a saucepan.
• Season with salt.
• Meanwhile, mix in a separate pan pumpkin puree, dijon, Sriracha, allspice, and cheese.
• Let cheese melt into the sauce. Add water to get desired thickness.
• The original recipe was for orzo, so pasta water was used at this stage.
• Check seasonings.  Add couscous to water when it boils. Turn heat off and wait 5 minutes until couscous is tender.
• Fluff couscous.
• Slowly add pumpkin sauce until it is absorbed but not soupy.
• Divide into bowls. Grate nutmeg on each serving, add walnuts to garnish!
• Eat immediately. It’s too good!