Couscous with seven vegetables

Ingredients

• For the couscous:
• 1 kg durum wheat couscous
• 10 cl olive oil
• 3 l water (1 l to moisten, 2 l for the pot)
• Salt
• Butter
• For the vegetables:
• 700 g carrots
• 800 g turnips
• 600 g courgettes
• 1 kg pumpkin
• 450 g green cabbage
• 160 g chickpeas
• 600 g aubergines
• 600 g vine tomatoes
• 300 g medium-hot chillies
• 5 g ground ginger
• 30 cl olive oil
• freshly ground black pepper and fine salt
• For the broth:
• 1.5 l water
• 150 g onions
• 100 g tomatoes
• ½ bunch flat-leaf parsley and ½ bunch coriander
• 80 g tomato paste
• 3 g turmeric
• 200 g carrot, 200 g turnip and 250 g courgette trimmings
• 2.5 g ground ginger and 12.5 g fresh ginger
• fine salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

1. Put the couscous in a large bowl, salt it and rub it between your hands with the olive oil. Sprinkle with a cup of water, break up any lumps and leave to rest for 5 minutes.
2. Bring 2 litres of water to the boil in the bottom of the couscoussier, put the couscous in the steamer basket and cook for about 20 minutes, until the steam rises evenly through the grains.
3. Spread the couscous out in a wide dish, separate the grains with oiled hands, sprinkle with half the remaining water, rest for 5 minutes and steam for 15 minutes. Repeat in the same way with the rest of the water.
4. Soak the chickpeas overnight, boil them in salted water for about 2 hours and drain.
5. Peel the carrots and turnips and cut them into 5 cm pieces with rounded ends, the aubergines into 5 × 2 cm sticks; quarter the cabbage without its outer leaves, peel the pumpkin and cut it into 3 cm cubes. Keep all trimmings for the broth. Wash the tomatoes with their stems on and leave the chillies whole.
6. For the broth, dice the tomatoes and onions and tie the parsley and coriander into a bunch. Warm a little olive oil in the bottom of the couscoussier and sweat the spices, onions and tomatoes without browning them.
7. Add the water and all the vegetable trimmings, bring to the boil, simmer over a very low heat for 40 to 45 minutes and strain.
8. Cook each vegetable separately in the broth and take it out as soon as it is done; then strain the broth again.
9. Reheat the vegetables and chickpeas in the slightly reduced broth. Warm the couscous in the couscoussier for about 10 minutes, tip it into a deep dish, season and work in the butter in small pieces between your hands.
10. Heap the couscous into a dome on a large platter, arrange the vegetables and chickpeas around and on top in alternating colours and spoon over a little broth. Serve the rest of the broth in bowls alongside, very hot.