Slow Cooked Butternut Squash and Chickpea Stew

The leaves on the trees are starting to display their wonderful autumn colours and so today I am featuring a Butternut Squash and Chickpea Stew which features equally beautiful autumn colours. We love butternut squash in our house. As well as tasting absolutely delicious, butternut squash contains high levels of vitamin C and is a really rich source of antioxidants. In this stew, I have combined the butternut squash with chickpeas for added protein and kidney beans for added fibre and iron.

Butternut squash in the UK is typically in season between September and January. There are lots of great things you can do with butternut squash, and slow cooking is one of them as the flavour deepens the longer that you cook it. This is a wonderful stew and is great for those autumn months when the weather outside is starting to get cold. It is also really easy to cook and can be left to cook all day without too much attention,so it makes a fab family meal to put on the dinner table.

I am linking this recipe up to Slow Cooker Sunday over at Mediocre Mum's blog.

I am linking this up to Slow Cooker Sunday over at Mediocre Mum's blog. I am also linking this recipe up to "Simple and in Season" created by Ren at Fabulicious Food and being hosted this month by 
Franglais Kitchen.

Finally, I am entering this into the "One Ingredient" linky - also being hosted by Franglais Kitchen

Butternut Squash and Chickpea Stew Print this Recipe Ingredients 2 tbsp Olive Oil 2 cloves Garlic, crushed 2 Onions, peeled and chopped into small pieces 1 red Pepper, peeled and chopped into small pieces 1 green Pepper, peeled and chopped into small pieces 2tsp Mild Chilli Powder 1tsp Paprika 1tsp Sea Salt flakes 1tsp Oregano 1tsp Cumin 1tsp Mustard Seeds 2tbsp Honey 800g Passata 1 x tin of Chickpeas - drained 1 x tin of Kidney Beans - drained 1 medium Butternut Squash - peeled and chopped into cubes Method Fry the onions and garlic in the olive oil over a medium heat for around five minutes or until they become transparent. Add the peppers, chilli powder, salt, oregano, cumin and mustard seeds to the pan. Stir well and cook for a further five minutes or until softened. Place the chickpeas, kidney beans, butternut squash, passata and honey in the slow cooker. Add the peppers, onions, herbs and spices to the slow cooker and stir well. Cook on low for 6-7 hours, or high for around 3-4 hours, stirring during the cooking time if possible. The dish is ready once the butternut squash cubes have softened. Serve immediately, or allow to cool and then freeze.