Fall

20 Minute One-Pan Mediterranean Shrimp and Couscous

January  8, 2014
5
1 Ratings
  • Serves 4
Author Notes

Couscous is one of my favorite things to make on a busy weeknight for dinner. This version features shrimp, spinach, tomatoes, olives, and feta. It comes together in a jiffy and uses only one pan to cook and serve! Comforting enough for winter, but light enough to serve in the summer, this is the ultimate recipe for family and guests. —Alexandra V. Jones

Test Kitchen Notes

Tonight we made Alexandra V. Jones' shrimp and couscous dish. It was such a quick and simple dish -- what a treat to come home tired and hungry and have dinner in literally 20 minutes. The flavors were balanced and fresh, and I like the use of whole wheat couscous. I find myself with little else to say: this is a good dish, easy, and bright! —em-i-lis

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • 1 1/3 cups whole-wheat couscous
  • 1/4` cups Kalamata olives, halved
  • 1 pound good quality large shrimp, peeled and cleaned
  • 1 shallot, minced
  • 2 cloves garlic, sliced “Goodfellas” style (if you haven’t seen the movie, you should, but just slice them as thinly as possible)
  • 2 handfuls baby spinach
  • 1 cup diced tomatoes (canned works fine, just use a good San Marzano variety)
  • 1/2 cup dry white wine
  • Pinch of dried oregano
  • 2 tablespoons fresh Italian parsley, chopped
  • 4 ounces feta, crumbled
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • Salt and pepper
  • 4 lemon wedges
Directions
  1. In a medium skillet or thick-bottomed pot, heat olive oil over medium-high heat, add shallot and garlic, and cook for three minutes.
  2. Add shrimp seasoned with a bit of salt and pepper. When the first side turns pink, flip it and add the tomatoes, oregano, and white wine.
  3. Cook for a minute or so then add 1 cup of water and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Once it boils, add olives, couscous, and spinach. Stir, cover, and remove from heat.
  4. After five minutes remove the cover and top with crumbled feta. You can put it under the broiler at this point to melt the feta (optional but tasty), chopped parsley, and squeeze of lemon, then serve! This dish is awesome because not only is it easy, it is cooked and served in the same pan, elegant enough for guests and done in 20 minutes!

See what other Food52ers are saying.

  • Julieek
    Julieek
  • Yvonne Eckrem
    Yvonne Eckrem
  • Kaitlan Lawrence
    Kaitlan Lawrence
  • Tbird
    Tbird
  • Alexandra V. Jones
    Alexandra V. Jones
Chef de cuisine @Shelburne hotel Seaview, WA

5 Reviews

Julieek September 18, 2018
We loved this! I used French feta and threw it under the broiler to finish. This is an excellent weeknight meal.
 
Yvonne E. October 5, 2017
I'm not much of a white wine drinker, can you recommend a good one for this recipe?
 
Kaitlan L. August 22, 2017
Awesome weeknight dinner! So much more than the sum of its parts. You cover the cous cous and think "This is not going to work," but it does! A few notes: you could probably just use an entire normal can of diced tomatoes. I couldn't find whole wheat cous cous in the store - normal cous cous works just fine. Added ribbons of fresh basil on top - so yummy. Will definitely make again.
 
Alexandra V. August 22, 2017
awesome! so glad it worked out for you!
 
Tbird March 13, 2014
Just made this for dinner tonight. So many of my favorite ingredients! It's disappearing. So much for leftovers!