Moroccan Berber vegetable couscous

So it's been quite a while since I did a recipe/cooking post. I haven't had time to cook anything interesting and take photos tbh! But finally this weekend I did! I made Moroccan/Berber vegetable couscous (and I added Lamb to mine, but it's optional).
This has to be my least lazy recipe yet, as it involves quite a lot of chopping/cooking/stirring/ time!

Anyway enough rambling, this should serve about 3-4 people, and this is what you'll need:
1 small chopped Butter nut squash
I large beef tomato or 2 med vine tomatoes
1/2 pepper (any colour will do)
1/2 chopped courgette
5-7 Shallots ( I like to put mine in whole or halved but it's up to you how you chop them)
Handful of Black olives
Handful of pitted dates
275-300g couscous
200-250g chopped leg lamb (optional)
3 slices preserved lemons/ or whatever jar of sliced lemons you can get
1-2 tlb tomato paste/puree
2 tsp Paprika
Ras el Hanout** spice to taste (about 2 tblsp)- (the little red bag by the couscous)
 -Or Cinnamon, Saffron, Cumin, Tumeric, Coriander- all measured to taste!
I also like to add a bit of Thyme or Rosemary and extra Coriander and cinnamon
2 glugs of olive oil
glug of wine
1 small jug of vegetable stock

** not as scary as it sounds, it's just a Moroccan blend of spices, that usually contains; Cumin, Coriander, Tumeric, Saffron, Cinnamon and Cardamon.

So a lot of ingredients but it tastes really good at the end, so I think it's worth it! To start I like to add a glug of oil to a pan, some paprika and Ras el hanout/other spices and the tomato paste and a small bit of wine and stir till it's a paste like thing..?
Then add the squash, courgette, pepper, shallots, tomatoes, dates and lemon slices and stir on a high heat till they're coated in the mixture, then you can add your lamb (if you want) and olives. Brown the vegetables and lamb adding more spices and herbs as you go to what you want it to taste like. After about 5 minutes of high heat turn it down and add the stock and the rest of the wine.

Then leave to slowly simmer (and the sauce thickens) for about 20-30 mins while you make the couscous. Add 350ml boiling water to 300g couscous in a large bowl and stir for a minute then leave for about 10 minutes while it fluffs up.

Because I like to make more work for myself :s and want to try and make it as authentic as I can, I like to add an extra step here which you can miss out if you want!
Basically in North Africa the couscous is more fluffy and flavoured and generally much nicer than the couscous out of a packet we get here. So my extra step is to add some of the Vegetable stock and a sprinkle of black pepper to the couscous, lay over some baking paper in a baking tray, put a few small scoops of olive spread/butter/oil over the couscous and cover it so it's airtight with foil, but also leaving space over the couscous so it can steam, like so: (this way it steam flavour through it a bit more and the butter adds fluffiness)

Then put in an oven at 160 C (fan) for about 15 mintues, checking regularly. It may need longer to steam away the liquid,,, personally I think this process makes it taste nicer...
And then once done, put some couscous in a bowl, pour over the vegetables and some sauce (and lamb if you used it) all pretty-like and voila it's done!

Thanks for reading, would love to know if any of you liked this or have tried any recipes yourself like this one? Or if you have any requests! :)