Meat and Vegetable Couscous

Clean all the vegetables and cut them into large pieces

In the bottom pot of a couscoussier, add half a glass of extra-virgin olive oil with the meat, the chopped onions, the washed and chopped parsley and all the spices, then pour in about 1.5 liters of water and add salt

Mix everything and cook over medium heat for 30 minutes

When the ingredients start to boil, add the peeled carrots cut into large rounds, the zucchinis, the peeled turnips cut into quarters, and the tomato sauce

Let cook for another 30 minutes, then add the chickpeas drained of their liquid and the pumpkin, finish cooking for another 15 minutes or so until the vegetables are tender

In a large bowl, work the couscous with about 250 cl of cold water to separate the grains well

Half an hour before the stew is cooked, oil the inside of the top part of the couscoussier with a little oil, then join the two parts of the pot using a kitchen cloth or a plastic bag so that the cooking steam passes through the semolina

At this point, distribute the couscous in three successive batches, waiting each time for the steam to pass through the semolina

Then begin to carefully fluff the semolina after adding the salt, and put it back in the pot to finish cooking (about 15 minutes), following the previous steps

When the semolina is cooked, arrange it on a large deep serving dish and make a space in the center to place the meat and arrange the vegetables all around

Lightly moisten everything with some of the cooking broth, being careful not to soak the semolina

If desired, you can dilute some harissa (chili paste) to taste in a bowl with part of the cooking broth to make it spicier