Last night I had Book Club. I like saying that because it sounds so intellectual, of course if I admitted to you that most of our book selections are basically chick flicks on paper you might not be so impressed. Truthfully our book club is an excuse for my girlfriends and I to get together without the kids, crack open a bottle of wine, share some yummy food, laugh, catch up and maybe get around to chatting about the current book of choice at some point.

This month the gang met at my house so it was my job to supply the food. Of course Tuesday was a weeknight so prep time was very limited. Still I didn’t want to just pawn off a boring take-out pizza on my girls. No something a little better than that was required for book club night. I decided to make Shrimp Scampi with Couscous and Asparagus Casserole.

I love this recipe because in addition to being delicious it is just so ridiculously easy to make. It literally took me 5 minutes to dump the ingredients into a casserole dish (you don’t even stir it!) then I just let it bake while guests arrived and got settled in with beverages.

Now just in case you aren’t familiar with couscous you shouldn’t be afraid to give this casserole a try. Couscous is basically like a really really small pasta. It is common in North African or Middle Eastern cooking though the mild flavor works great in lots of other types of dishes, like this scampi one. You will usually find it in the ethnic aisle or near the rice at your local grocer.

So if you have a night where you need a delicious dish with very little prep required you may want to give this casserole a try. And if this is your first time with cous cous let me know what you think. Is this quick cooking tiny little pasta something you want to see more of or less of on your dinner plate?