North African-Style Paella

Ingredients

• ¼ cup olive oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 roasted red pepper, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 3 vine-ripened tomatoes, chopped
• 1 (8 ounce) salmon fillet, cut into pieces
• 5 ounces merguez sausage, cut into pieces
• 6 cups vegetable broth, divided
• ½ cup white wine
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• salt and ground black pepper to taste
• 12 shrimp, shelled and deveined
• 12 mussels, cleaned and debearded
• 2 (5.8 ounce) boxes couscous

Step 1

Gently heat some olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Toss in the chopped onion, roasted red pepper, and garlic, and cook them together until everything smells amazing and the onion softens, about 3 to 4 minutes. Next, add the tomatoes, salmon pieces, and merguez sausage to the pot and let them cook for another couple of minutes.

Step 2

Pour in 2 1/2 cups of broth along with the white wine, then season everything with cumin, salt, and pepper. Bring the mixture up to a boil, then lower the heat and stir in the shrimp. Let it simmer just until the shrimp turn opaque, which should take around 3 minutes. Once that’s done, take the pot off the heat and add the mussels. Cover the pot and let it sit for about 5 minutes until the mussels open up.

Step 3

Meanwhile, bring the remaining 3 1/2 cups of broth to a boil in a separate pot. Stir in the couscous, then remove it from the heat and let it sit for about 5 minutes so it can soak up the broth and get nice and fluffy.

Step 4

To serve, spoon the couscous into shallow bowls and ladle the seafood stew on top. Enjoy!