Sweet Potato and Black Bean Chilli

Ingredients

• 600 g sweet potatoes, cut into 2 cm dice
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 red pepper, diced
• 1 tbsp smoked paprika
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 1 1/2 tbsp chipotle in adobo, chopped
• 1 tin of chopped tomatoes
• 2 tins of black beans, drained
• 300 ml vegetable stock
• juice of 1 lime
• a handful of coriander

Method

1. Start the base

   Soften the onion, garlic and pepper in the oil over a medium heat until they have collapsed and sweetened. Rushing this leaves the chilli tasting sharp no matter how long it simmers afterwards.

   10 min

2. Sear the sweet potato

   Turn the heat up and add the sweet potato, letting it catch colour on a few faces before you add any liquid. Browned edges hold their shape; unbrowned dice dissolve into the sauce.

   8 min

3. Bloom the spices

   Stir in the paprika, cumin and chipotle and cook for a minute in the oil until fragrant.

   1 min

4. Simmer

   Add the tomatoes, beans and stock, bring to a simmer and cook partly covered until the sweet potato is tender to the tip of a knife and the sauce has thickened around it.

   25 min

5. Sharpen and serve

   Take it off the heat, stir in the lime juice and coriander, and check the salt. Sweet potato and smoked paprika are both rich and sweet — without that acid at the end it tastes heavy.