main dishes sardinian

Cascà di Carloforte

Sardinian-style vegetable couscous from Carloforte with chickpeas, fava beans, seasonal vegetables, and warm North African spices.

Vegetarian
Back to Recipes More Recipes
Prep 50 min
Cook 1h 30m
Total 2h 20m
Servings 4
Difficulty Advanced

Ingredients

Base

Vegetables

Legumes

Seasonal Vegetable

Seasoning

Spices

Need a different yield?

Open this recipe in the scaler to adjust servings and turn the ingredients into a grouped shopping list.

Scale this recipe

Instructions

  1. Prepare the couscous. Bring 250 ml of water to a boil with a tablespoon of olive oil and a teaspoon of salt. Remove from the heat, pour in the couscous, and stir constantly to prevent lumps. Cover and let it sit for 5 minutes until the grains have absorbed the water.

    Tip: Stirring from the start is the key to fluffy couscous. If you dump it all in at once and walk away, you will get a solid block.

  2. Fluff the couscous with a fork. Add two tablespoons of olive oil, stir well, and return to low heat for 2 to 3 minutes. Continue fluffing with the fork to separate the grains. Transfer to a wide serving plate.

  3. In a wide, heavy-bottomed pan or casserole, heat two tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat. Add the chopped onion and cook until translucent, about 4 minutes.

  4. Add the sliced savoy cabbage, carrot rounds, cauliflower florets, and chopped wild fennel to the pan. Cook over medium heat, adding hot water a ladle at a time as needed to prevent sticking. Cook until all the vegetables are tender, about 15 to 20 minutes. Season with salt only at the end.

  5. While the vegetables cook, boil the chickpeas and fava beans separately in salted water until tender. Drain and season with marjoram and a pinch of salt.

  6. In a separate pan, heat two tablespoons of olive oil with the garlic clove. Add the eggplant (or zucchini or artichokes) cut into chunks and cook for about 20 minutes until soft and lightly golden. Season with salt.

  7. Combine everything: toss the cooked vegetables, chickpeas, and fava beans with the couscous on the serving plate. Dust with the mixed spices, a pinch of cinnamon, and the ground clove. Serve warm.

Storage & Meal Prep

Cascà is best served warm, soon after making it. Leftovers keep well in the fridge for up to 2 days. Reheat gently with a splash of water, stirring to break up the couscous.

Variations

  • With Artichokes Instead of Eggplant: In spring, replace the eggplant with 3 artichokes trimmed and cut into wedges. Cook them with the other vegetables until tender. This is the version many Carloforte families prefer.
  • With Zucchini: In summer, swap the eggplant for 3 medium zucchini cut into rounds. They cook faster than eggplant, so add them a few minutes after the other vegetables.
  • With Sausage: Some Carloforte households add crumbled sausage to the vegetable base. Brown 200g of fresh Sardinian sausage with the onion before adding the other vegetables. This turns the dish from vegetarian to a hearty meat-and-grain plate.

FAQ

What is cascà?

Cascà is a couscous dish from Carloforte, a small town on the island of San Pietro off the southwest coast of Sardinia. It has North African roots, which makes sense because Carloforte was settled in the 18th century by Genoese families who had previously lived in Tabarka, Tunisia. The dish is a one-pot meal of couscous layered with seasonal vegetables, chickpeas, fava beans, and warm spices like cinnamon, clove, and marjoram.

Is cascà really Sardinian?

Yes and no. It is Sardinian in the sense that it comes from Carloforte, which is part of Sardinia. But the dish itself reflects the Tabarkin community's North African heritage. In Carloforte it is considered a local signature dish and is served at festivals and family gatherings. It sits at the intersection of two food cultures rather than belonging squarely to either one.

Can I use regular couscous instead of quick-cooking?

Yes. Regular couscous just needs to be steamed rather than soaked in boiling water. Steam it over the vegetable pot for about 15 minutes, fluffing it with a fork between steaming sessions. The result is slightly lighter and more separate grains.

What vegetables should I use?

The original recipe is flexible: eggplant, zucchini, or artichokes, depending on the season. The base vegetables that are always present are savoy cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, and wild fennel. The legumes are chickpeas and fava beans. Do not try to use all optional vegetables at once — pick one based on what looks good at the market.

Interactive Nutrition Map

4 Servings

Customize Ingredients

Legumes
Chickpeas (Cooked)
198 g
Fava Beans (Dried)
198 g
Vegetables
Green Cabbage
45 g
Carrots
183 g
Wild Fennel (Finocchietto Selvatico)
100 g
Onion (Yellow/White)
110 g
Eggplant (Raw)
500 g
Cauliflower
75 g
Garlic
3 g
Grains & Bread
Couscous (Dry, Regular)
249 g
Oils & Fats
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
54 g

Per Serving

677kcalCalories
28gProtein
108gCarbs
17gFat
24gFiber
Sodium
55mg2% DV
Potassium
1337mg28% DV
Calcium
121mg9% DV
Iron
5.8mg32% DV
Magnesium
142mg34% DV
Vitamin C
25.2mg28% DV
Vitamin A
398µg44% DV
Vitamin K
49.2µg41% DV
Folate
371µg93% DV
Couscous (Dry, Regular)
Green Cabbage
Chickpeas (Cooked)
Fava Beans (Dried)
Carrots
Wild Fennel (Finocchietto Selvatico)
Onion (Yellow/White)
Eggplant (Raw)
Cauliflower
Garlic
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
* Nutrition is an estimate; actual values vary by ingredient brands and cooking methods. Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.

The Story Behind This Dish

I first ate cascà at a friend’s house in Carloforte, on the island of San Pietro off Sardinia’s southwest coast. The town was settled in the 18th century by Genoese families who had lived for generations in Tabarka, on the Tunisian coast, and they brought their couscous tradition with them. What they ended up with is a dish that sits between two food cultures — couscous and warm North African spices, but built on Sardinian vegetables and legumes.

The base is always the same: couscous hydrated and fluffed, then layered with a thick mixture of savoy cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, wild fennel, chickpeas, and fava beans. The seasonal vegetable changes — eggplant in late summer, artichokes in spring, zucchini in high summer — but the spice profile of cinnamon, clove, and marjoram stays constant. In Carloforte this is a family dish, not a restaurant one, and it turns up at festivals and Sunday lunches.

Why this works

  • Steaming, not boiling. The couscous is first hydrated with hot water, then finished over low heat with olive oil. This two-step method produces light, separate grains rather than a gummy mass.
  • Cooking the vegetables slowly. The cabbage, carrot, cauliflower, and fennel need time to soften in the pan. Adding hot water a ladle at a time creates a gentle braising effect. Seasoning only at the end keeps the vegetables from releasing too much water.
  • The spice blend. Cinnamon, clove, and marjoram are the three aromatics that define cascà. They are used in small quantities — this is not a heavily spiced dish — but they give it a warmth that sets it apart from any other Sardinian vegetable plate.
  • Seasonal flexibility. The recipe works with eggplant, zucchini, or artichokes. Pick one based on what is in season rather than trying to use all three at once.

A note on the legumes

Both chickpeas and fava beans need to be cooked separately before they go into the dish. If you are using dried chickpeas, soak them overnight and boil until tender, about 45 minutes to an hour. For fava beans, the same applies — soak, peel if the skins are tough, and boil until soft. Canned chickpeas work in a pinch, though the texture will be softer.

Serving

Cascà is served warm, straight from the plate it was assembled on. In Carloforte it is the main course, not a side, and it is eaten with bread. The dish reheats well, so making a larger batch for leftovers is practical.

Part of: The Sardinian Kitchen

Related: Sardinian Ingredients Guide | Whole Grain Recipes