Moroccan Vegetable Casserole with homemade vegetable stock

👨‍🍳 Method

For the Fried onion

1. 1
   Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat.

   StoveLarge pot
2. 2
   Add the onion and fry for 8 minutes, stirring, until the onion turns golden.

   Stove

   💡Add by cooking time: what needs long (onion, carrot, meat) goes in first, and what burns fast (garlic, dry spices) goes in last, only until fragrant.

To assemble

1. 3
   Add the garlic, cumin, turmeric, ginger, cinnamon, chili pepper, salt and black pepper and stir.
2. 4
   Put the onion, carrot, celery, parsley, garlic, bay leaves and thyme in a large pot with the cold water.

   Large pot

   💡Start with cold water: the vegetables release their flavor slowly as the water heats up.
3. 5
   Bring to a boil over high heat and skim off the foam.

   Stove
4. 6
   Turn down to medium-low heat and simmer uncovered 30–45 minutes.

   Stove

   💡A gentle simmer, not a boil: a hard boil dries the food out and clouds it, a slow simmer cooks it evenly.
5. 7
   Strain the stock through a fine sieve.

   Fine sieve
6. 8
   Add the carrot, sweet potatoes, tomatoes and stock and bring to a boil.

   Stove
7. 9
   Turn down the heat, cover and simmer 20 minutes.

   StoveLid
8. 10
   Add the zucchini and chickpeas and cook another 15 minutes, until all the vegetables are tender.

   Stove

   💡Hard vegetables (carrot, eggplant) go in first, and zucchini only toward the end of cooking: that way they're all tender and none fall apart.
9. 11
   Sprinkle the cilantro on top.
10. 12
    Serve the stew with couscous.