Spicy Sweet Potato Chipotle Chilli

As you may well know by now, I am not too good with spicy food. However, when I came across this sweet potato chilli recipe it simply looked too good to pass up on. I've had plenty of (mild) beef and veggie chillies before, and have always been able to manage them so I thought why not push myself and attempt to train my tastebuds to grow up a bit and learn to handle - and who knows, one day maybe enjoy - the heat!

What drew me to this recipe in particular was the use of chipotle paste. The only other experience I've personally had with anything chipotle-related is the Chipotle/Southwest sauce you get at Subway, which is like a spicy mayo. Having worked at Subway in my teenage years I tried pretty much everything they had to offer, and I enjoyed the taste of the sauce there, so I figured I'd enjoy the flavour it brought to a chilli. Logical, right?

Well, I think I may have been a little naive to how different chipotle can taste in various dishes. It did NOT taste like Subway's sauce! Nevertheless, I really enjoyed the rich, deep flavour it brought to this dish and how it perfectly counter-balanced the tang of the tomatoes. I'm now trying to find another recipe to use my leftover chipotle paste in, so if you've got any suggestions leave them in the comments!

Check out the clip below on my YouTube channel, and keep reading for a full ingredient list and method. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• One large sweet potato, peeled & chopped

• Half a red onion, chopped or sliced - whichever you prefer!

• One red pepper, sliced

• 400 grams of red kidney beans, drained & rinsed

• 400 grams of tinned chopped tomatoes

• One clove of garlic, chopped

• Two tablespoons of olive, sunflower or vegetable oil

• Two teaspoons of chipotle paste - I could only find spicy chipotle paste, but you can also get your hands on sweet or smokey variations too

• Half a teaspoon of ground cumin

• Salt & pepper

• A dollop of sour cream - this is optional, but I enjoyed mixing it in to give the dish a creamier taste

• Grated cheddar, about 30 grams

• Fresh coriander - just a couple of sprigs to garnish

Method:

1. Peel and chop your sweet potato into small chunks, then chop half your red onion and slice your red pepper - I like big slices of pepper!

2. Preheat your oven to 220 degrees (200 fan oven) or gas mark 7

3. Pop your sweet potato onto a baking tray and drizzle a tablespoon of oil all over it, making sure everything is covered before seasoning well with salt & pepper

4. Stick that in the oven on the middle shelf and set a timer for 20 minutes

5. While that's baking, chop your garlic clove into small chunks

6. Add the other tablespoon of oil to a large saucepan and chuck in your onions and peppers

7. Season well with salt & pepper then leave this to cook for seven to eight minutes, stirring occasionally

8. Once this time has passed add your chopped garlic, chipotle paste and ground cumin to the pan and stir in well, making sure everything's coated

9. Then, chuck in your chopped tomatoes and kidney beans and give everything a good stir

10. Leave this to bubble away on a medium heat for about ten minutes, meanwhile grating about 30 grams of cheddar cheese

11. By now your sweet potato should be nicely cooked, so grab that out of the oven and stir it into the pan

12. Add a last sprinkling of salt & pepper, then dish up, add your sour cream, grated cheddar and coriander and enjoy!

As I mentioned above, I'd never cooked with chipotle paste before so wasn't entirely sure what to expect from this dish. It was spicier than I thought it would be, so thank goodness for the sour cream! Though if you like your heat in a chilli, you can always ditch this as the it already bursts with flavour. The addition of roasted sweet potato was delicious, and my oven runs a little hot so as you can see from the image above the chunks actually got a bit charred which brought a real smoky flavour to the dish.

Overall I was really pleased with how this chilli turned out. It's simple enough to make, and the taste of the chipotle and sweet potato really added an extra dimension to a dish that I can sometimes find a little plain. My only recommendation would be to add another sweet potato as we found that we would have liked more!

I originally found this recipe in my good old Joe Wicks recipe book. Usually I make some adaptations but as this was my first time attempting this recipe I stuck to it completely. It doesn't specify whether to use a sweet, smoky or spicy chipotle paste, so I guess that's up to you! As usual, I am cooking for two, but we actually had a little left over which we had with crusty bread for lunch the next day.

A nice chilli is perfect for big groups, so next time you're getting together with family or friends - whenever this is allowed again - why not whip up this super tasty veggie variation on a classic? Don't forget to let me know how you get on in the comments!