Black Bean & Butternut Chilli

In a break from chocolate and baking here is a winter warming chilli.    Using black beans, and butternut squash the chilli is spiced with cumin and sweet paprika, giving lots of warming comforting flavour, without a Scoville tolerance test to your tastebuds.   Delicious and ready in about 30 minutes.

I made this for my birthday party last week, breaking with tradition I served it with potato wedges rather than rice or baked spuds.   I think that the vast array or toppings make this special.  Despite the fact the photo does look rather topping heavy, I can honestly say there really is more chilli than toppings in the photo.    This froze well, but if you are making a batch specifically for the freezer, up the paprika and decrease the cumin, as the freezing process enhanced the cumin and muted the paprika.  My paprika comes from Hungary, sent from a friend who lives in Budapest.  Leftovers were delicious in a savoury pancake .

Black Bean and Butternut Warming Chilli (Serves 6-8)

2 tbs olive oil
2 large onions (medium chopped)
6 cloves garlic
3 tbs sweet paprika
2 tbs cumin
2 cans tomatoes
1/2 butternut squash (cut into 1inch cubes)
2 tbs balsamic vinegar
2 tbs sugar
2 cans black beans (drained and rinsed)
Salt & pepper to taste

Add the oil to a large casserole dish, fry the onion and garlic over a medium heat for about 5 mins until starting to brown.  Add the spices, stir well and cook for another minute.   Add the rest of the ingredients up to the black beans, cover and gently simmer for 15 – 20 mins until the squash is cooked.   Add the blackbeans and cook for a further 5 mins.   Season to taste.

Serve with rice, baked spuds or wedges and a selection of toppings.    Topping ideas could include guacamole or chopped avocado, salsa, shredded spring onions, grated cheese, sour cream, chopped coriander, sliced radishes, pickled chilli, sliced olives, feta etc etc.

I think that this would also be great with chickpeas.