Easy Butternut and Bean Mexican Chilli with Yoghurty Guacamole

At the end of a hard day in the cold of winter, there’s nothing like a warming chilli to nourish body and spirit.  But the last thing you want to do when you’ve worked your socks off is to spend hours in the kitchen. If you roast the squash in advance, you can have this chilli on the table in 20 minutes with minimal effort. It’s definitely a winner with me.

For the ChilliVegetarian Mexican Chilli

1 Butternut Squash

1 Onion

2 cloves Garlic

1tbls Olive Oil

1 red or orange Pepper

1 tin Kidney beans

1 heaped teaspoon Chipotle paste

1 small (200g) tin Tomatoes

1 Courgette

Fresh Coriander, to serve

For the Guacamole

1 ripe Avocado

100g natural Yoghurt

Juice of 1 Lime

4 Spring Onions

A small handful of fresh Coriander

  1. Preheat the oven to 180C. Place the whole butternut squash in an oven dish and roast in the oven for an hour, or until you can stick a knife into the flesh, and it slides through easily.  You can do this up to 3 days in advance, if you like.

  2. Slice the onion, and finely dice the garlic. Heat the oil in a large saucepan, and cook the onion on a medium heat until it is translucent and beginning to brown slightly at the edges.  Add the garlic and cook, stirring, until the garlic begins to colour.

  3. While the onion is cooking, remove the stalk, seeds and white matter from the pepper, and chop the colourful flesh into 1cm dice. Chop the courgette into 1cm dice as well.  Drain and rinse the kidney beans.

  4. Add the peppers, beans, courgette chipotle paste and tomatoes to the pan, and break down the tomatoes with a spoon. Cook on a medium heat for 5 minutes.

  5. Chop the cooked squash flesh (you will only need half the squash; save the rest for another day) into dice and add to the pan. Add a little water if the mixture seems too sticky.  Reduce the heat, and simmer for 10 minutes.

  6. While that’s cooking, make the guacamole. Peel and stone the avocado, and put the flesh in a bowl with the yoghurt and lime juice. Finely chop the onions and coriander and add them to the bowl.  Mash everything together with a fork.  I like to leave the avocado a bit chunky.

  7. Top the stew with some chopped coriander. Serve immediately with the guacamole on the side.