A simple recipe showcasing the famous South African sausage Boerewors.
Serves 4 Preparation time - 30 mins Cooking time - 15 mins
In my recent post Eat, Love, Braai I reasoned that anyone can be a Braaimaster, and this is in all our DNA. I’m hopeful that this recipe will get aspiring readers on their way to this mastery. For already (self) proclaimed Braaimasters this one’s a back-to-basics throwback. An original. This recipe reminds me at least that simple doesn’t mean inferior. The star ingredient is much loved Boerewors, which literally means farmers sausage. It’s completely synonymous with the Braai and the perfect way to begin this journey together.
boerewors /ˈbuːrəˌvɔːs,ˈbʊrəˌvɔːs/ noun a type of traditional sausage, typically containing coarsely ground beef and pork seasoned with spices.
Ingredients
For the sauce
A handful of fresh chives
A handful of fresh coriander
½ clove of garlic
2 tbsp capers
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp coriander seeds
1tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tsp Dijon mustard
For the couscous salad
160g of couscous
½ punnet of baby tomatoes
A handful of baby spinach leaves
1 veg stock cube
For the meat and veg
1 green pepper
1 red pepper
1 courgette
800g of boerewors
For the pud
8 American marshmallows
If you’re not in South Africa where it’s widely available, you can normally buy boerewors from a specialist South African shop in the UK (or email me and I can help you find some of the really good stuff).
The Braai things
A Braai - doesn’t need to be fancy
15 charcoal briquettes (the compact kind)
4 firelighters
Some Braai tongs and skewers
Method
Start by lighting your fire. Just lay out the firelighters in the middle of your Braai and pile the charcoal on top of these in a haphazard way, then light. You probably don’t need 15 briquettes for this task, but they’ll give you lasting heat for your pudding later.
While your fire is burning, prepare your veg. Quarter and deseed the peppers. Slice the courgette in ½ cm slices. Brush the veg with some of the olive oil and set aside.
Now make your sauce. This is a salsa verde of some description that tends to vary for me based on what I have to hand. Finely chop the chives, fresh coriander and garlic. In a pestle and mortar crush the coriander seeds followed by the capers. Combine all these ingredients in a bowl with the mustard, olive oil and red wine vinegar - mixing well. Season with salt and pepper to taste and transfer to a small serving bowl.
Quarter your tomatoes and add these with the baby spinach to the bowl you just made your sauce in and set aside.
Your Braai should be ready to cook on 20-25 mins after lightning. Once the charcoal has turned white spread it out evenly with your tongs and put your grill in place. The Braaimaster readiness test is you can hold your hand above the grill at this stage for 5-7 seconds.
Place the Boerewors on the grill. It should take about 6-7 minutes on each side and you can turn it a few times while cooking but give it a good chance to cook. I turn it to just make sure it’s not burning. It should brown nicely just like a sausage does in the oven.
After the Boerewors has been Braaing for 5 mins or so put the veg on the Braai too, turning often until it starts to soften. Don’t worry if it blackens slightly - it will enhance the flavour.
While your Braai is cooking make some veg stock with your cube and boiling water. Just cover your couscous with it in a covered bowl and leave to steam for 5 minutes. Once ready fluff with a fork and add to the tomatoes and spinach ready to serve.
Remove your veg from the Braai in a serving dish, drizzle with a little olive oil and season with a pinch of salt.
Finally remove the Boerwors and serve immediately with the veg, couscous salad and sauce. I like to pair this with a nice bold red wine like a Cabernet - it goes so well with the Boerewors, green pepper and coriander in this recipe.
After enjoying this simple yet tasty meal, your fire should have burnt low enough for pudding. You can use the embers to roast your American marshmallows on the skewers. Slowly roast all over the marshmallow so that it lightly browns. This is a great thing to do together around the Braai. Sharing is the best way to enjoy the simplest pud in the world!
Eat. Love. Braai
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