Recipe of the Week - Sweet Potato + Chickpea Chilli

November 4, 2014 by Chef Justin from Justin's Food Company

This week I would like to share with you a Vegetarian Sweet Potato + Chickpea Chilli

Rice, quinoa or sliced warm bread goes really well with this dish but I will leave that choice up to you. This healthy, hearty meal is great for all the family and for all you meat eaters out there, don't knock until you've tried it.

Ingredients:

• 2 Medium Sized Onions (medium diced)
• 4 Garlic Cloves (crushed or sliced thinly)
• 2 tbs Tomato Purée
• 1 Chilli (finely chopped)
• 3 tsp Ground Cumin
• 3 tsp Smoked Paprika
• 2 tsp Ground Coriander
• 1 Large Sweet Potato (diced 1-2 cm cubes)
• 240g Red Kidney Neans (washed and drained)
• 240g Chickpeas (washed and drained)
• 1 tin Plum Tomatoes (400g)
• 2 tsp Brown Sugar
• Sea Salt & Ground Black Pepper
• 500ml Vegetable Stock
• 20g 70% Dark Chocolate (optional)
• Olive or Rapeseed Oil

Method:

• To start preheat your oven to 220c. Put your sweet potato into a medium size bowl add 1 tsp cumin, 1 tsp paprika, 1 pinch of salt and a twist or pinch of ground black pepper, drizzle with oil mix well then place onto a baking tray and pop into the oven. These will take around the same time as it will take to make the chilli 35/45 minutes.
  
  
• Place a thick bottom base pan onto a low to medium heat, add 1tbsp of oil and start to cook the onions and garlic without colour until soft for around 5/10 minutes. Then add the chilli and tomato purée and cook for a further 2 minutes stirring often.
  
  
• Turn the heat down to its lowest while you add all of the remaining spices.
  
  
• Time to add the plum tomatoes, once added break them up with a spoon or spatula, continue with adding the chickpeas, kidney beans,stock and sugar stir well. Bring to the boil then simmer for around 20 minutes until you have a nice thick sauce constancy. Once your chilli looks ready turn off the heat.
  
  
• Buy this time your sweet potatoes should be done, soft and nicely roasted. When they are, take out of the oven and add them to your chilli, taste and adjust the seasoning to your liking. If you fancy trying out adding the dark chocolate it will bring out more chilli flavour (not heat) and deepen the sauce in colour.
  
  
• To finish serve with your chosen side dish.
  
  

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