Guiso de Calabaza Picante…Squash made Spicy!

Squash and pumpkins are now in season and, in my opinion, are seriously underrated. The Americans may seem obsessed with pumpkin pie and pumpkin spiced lattes but back here in Blighty we only seem to use pumpkins for carving at Halloween. The Americans may be slightly ahead of us, using pumpkin/squash in more f their cooking but it’s still fairly limited. Garlicky-Gingery roasted butternut squash is a firm favorite as a roast dinner side dish in our house but other than that, its rarely used. As lovers of Mexican food we have a Mexican inspired butternut squash stew for dinner tonight. I have my own ‘Mexican’ spice mix, it may be a little stereotypical but it works for me, that I use in all of my Mexican inspired recipes (see below).

Using squash (or pumpkin) in this stew makes for a warming, hearty vegetarian meal that even the carnivores love. You definitely don’t miss the meat in this ‘guiso de calabaza picante’! I always serve this with brown rice (its more nutritious…and tastier than white rice) and to make it a real ‘one bowl wonder’, for those TV-dinner-kind-of-days, simply stir the cooked rice into the stew for the last 10 minutes. If you’re not a rice fan traditional cornbread or some, less traditional, quinoa or couscous make lovely accompaniments.

So if you have only ever had pumpkin (or squash) in latte or pie form I urge you to give this a go. Like with all of my recipes, if you want to add something in or omit something- go ahead. Certain recipes need to be precise but with things like this stew, don’t worry too much about it. I do this in my Crockpot but it is easily achievable in a casserole dish, in the oven. Being a slow cooked recipe is great as you can pop it on and forget about it…then –Ta Da- a delicious dinner is ready with such little effort!

Guiso de Calabaza Picante

Serves 4 (with rice)

Ingredients

1 Butternut Squash aprox 650g (I would use any squash or pumpkin, apart from spaghetti squash)

3 Bell Peppers aprox 350g

1 Tbsp My Mexican Spice Mix

1 Tbsp Chipotle Sauce (I use Heinz Smoky Chipotle)

1 Can Tinned Tomatoes

2 Cloves Garlic

1 Small Onion

Jalapenos to taste

Method

1. It’s time to get chopping…Dice up your squash or pumpkin (take the skin off) in to fairly chunky bits (1”x0.75” or so).

2. IF you have a microwave, you can pop it in (on high) for 4 minutes, just to get it soft. If you don’t have a microwave just boil it in salted water until it’s just tender.

3. Put the squash in your slow cooker, or casserole dish, with a tin of chopped tomato, sliced onion, chopped garlic, chipotle sauce and spice mix.

4. IF using a slow cooker, place it on high and set it for four hours. IF using your oven, place the casserole dish it in at 160 (fan).

5. After two hours add in the sliced bell peppers and how ever many sliced jalapenos you like, give it a stir, and pop the lid back on- or put it back in the oven.

6. Serve with brown rice, grated cheddar, extra jalapenos- for heat lovers- and a pot of sour cream (or natural yogurt)- for those that need a ‘fire extinguisher’.

Spice Mix

My ‘Mexican’ spice mix is a blend of salt, sugar, dried onion, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, ground coriander, nutmeg, mustard flour, cinnamon and oregano. I don’t have set quantities; I just throw some of each into my Nutribullet and blitz it up. I use lots of cayenne and not so much cinnamon but just taste it when you make it to see what you think it needs more of! Remember: you can always add more but you cant take it away once its in there so don’t be too heavy handed.