Cuscuz Paulista

Ingredients

• 400 g coarse cornmeal flakes (flocão de milho)
• 2 tins sardines in oil, about 250 g total
• 300 g raw prawns, peeled
• 3 ripe tomatoes, chopped
• 400 ml passata
• 200 g palm hearts, sliced
• 150 g cooked peas
• 100 g green olives, pitted
• 4 eggs
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, chopped
• 80 ml olive oil, plus extra for the mould
• 400 ml hot fish stock or water
• 1 bunch spring onions, sliced
• 1 small bunch parsley, chopped
• Salt, black pepper and hot sauce

Before you cook

• Oil a 24 cm ring mould or deep cake tin generously.
• Drain the sardines, lift out the backbones and break the fillets into large flakes.
• Slice the palm hearts and halve half of the olives.

Steps

1. Put the eggs in cold water, bring them to the boil and cook them for nine minutes.
2. Cool the eggs under cold water, peel them and cut them into rounds.
3. Press some egg slices, whole olives and a few peas against the oiled sides and base of the mould.
4. Heat the olive oil in a large pan and cook the onion and garlic for five minutes.
5. Add the chopped tomatoes and cook for five minutes, until they break down.
6. Pour in the passata and the hot stock and season well with salt, pepper and hot sauce.
7. Simmer the sauce for eight minutes.
8. Stir in the prawns and cook them for two minutes, just until they turn pink.
9. Fold in the sardines, palm hearts, remaining olives and peas, then take the pan off the heat.
10. Add the spring onions and parsley.
11. Sprinkle in the cornmeal a handful at a time, folding gently, until you have a moist mass that just holds together.
12. Let the mixture stand for five minutes so the cornmeal drinks up the liquid.
13. Spoon it into the mould without disturbing the decoration, pressing down firmly as you go.
14. Leave the cuscuz to settle for 30 minutes, then run a knife round the edge and turn it out onto a plate.