Pepper and chickpea couscous

It was a leftovers kind of night - there was some pastry left from yesterday's quiches, and tomato sauce from the night before's sausage, roasted vegetables and couscous. Magically, these became pizza, to be eaten with salad and some chickpea couscous.

You'll need

5 handfuls of dried couscous
a little butter
half a large red pepper, chopped
an onion, finely chopped
a clove of garlic, finely chopped
salt and pepper
a can of chickpeas

Stick a little knob of butter in a non-stick pan, and let it melt. Add the couscous, and swirl it about in the butter for a couple of minutes. (If you wanted a spiced couscous, you could add a teaspoon of ras al hanout at this point). Add enough water to cover the top of the couscous by about half a centimetre, and leave on a low heat for a couple of minutes until it's been absorbed. Have a try of the couscous - if it's still too gritty and hard, give it a stir, add a little more water, and take off the heat. When you come back to it in a couple of minutes, it should be done, and you should be able to fluff it up with a fork.

Fry the onion and garlic in a tablespoon of olive oil until softened. Add the pepper, and cook until everything is soft. Drain the chickpeas and add to the mixture. Take off the heat, and add in the cooked couscous. Chuck a bit of salt and pepper over the top, and you're good to go. If you've got some flat leaf parsley hanging around that looks quite nice finely chopped and scattered on top.