Fregola Sarda (Sardinian Couscous) with Pesto, Pinjur-Topped Toast

We have a specialty store in Chapel Hill called A Southern Season that I don't typically shop at, but I like to stock up in June when they have their annual clearance sale. I made my first 2007 sale stop today and found a number of pastas I hadn't seen before. Some of the pasta was from a family-run Italian company Rustichella d'Abruzzo that uses traditional long-drying times to make their pastas, including pastas with special, handmade shapes, and I purchased their fregola sarda (pasta abruzzese di semola di grana duro). It is a durum wheat toasted pasta that is made by rubbing (fregare means "to rub" in Italian) coarse semolina pasta and water together to make large granules which are then toasted, and is sometimes called "Sardinian Couscous". I had several ideas of preparing it like a typical pasta dish with sauce, but also trying to make a soup.

Tonight, I had a late meeting with a bride-to-be and her husband-to-be, friends of mine, and her parents to discuss my photographing their (vegan!) wedding. I got back well after 10p - my wife had had a snack to tide her over, but I wanted to get dinner on the table quickly. I decided to make the fregola sarda and cooked it till al dente (the package suggested 14-17m, and I think it was actually done in 12-13 minutes), then added some pesto sauce (prepared; a few days ago I found a good looking brand of vegan pesto) and Eat in the Raw's Parma! vegan "Parmesan cheese". I also had some prepared pinjur sauce (a Macedonian eggplant and/or roasted pepper spread; quite tasty!) and put that on top of slices of toast.

We mildly enjoyed the fregola sarda. I think it would taste better with a hot sauce, perhaps a traditional tomato sauce. It was a good dinner that I was able to put together in under a half hour!