Sicilian Butternut Squash and Chickpea Stew

Last week I decided to make Jamie Oliver's Sicilian Squash and Chickpea Stew. It's a lovely winter warmer and doesn't take all that long... Minus the cooking time of the Butternut Squash obviously ;-)

So, before you start you need to make sure you have the following ingredients:

1 butternut squash (about 1.2kg)
olive oil
1/2 bunch of fresh coriander (15g)
40g raisins (optional... I don't use them as I'm not a fan)
50g mixed olives, stones in (stones out is OK too!)
1 can of chickpeas in water (400g)
1 can of chopped tomatoes (400g)
1 vegetable stock cube
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
2 onions
1 teaspoon dried chilli flakes (this is to taste... The hotter you like your food, the more you can use)
1 mug (320g) couscous (I used 2 packets of dried for 2 people)
Fat free natural yoghurt


First you want to cook your squash. Now, I absolutely hate peeling these things and chopping them so I cheat a bit.... I put the whole thing in the oven to cook instead! Set the oven to around 200 degrees C/ Gas mark 6 and prick the skin with a fork. Leave it to roast for about 40 minutes. I would usually cook it for way longer but we'll be chopping it up and adding it to the stew to cook for a further 40 mins later.

Once the 40 mins are up, chop the squash in half length ways and scoop out the pulp and seeds. If it's really tough to cut then you might want to leave it in for a little longer. Once it's in 2 halves you want to score the squash into squares. You can leave it now while you cook the stew.

Put a full kettle of water on to boil. 

Put a lug of oil in a large pan (a casserole one if you have it.. If not a normal one will do) on a low heat and roughly chop both the onions. Add these to the pan along with the chilli, the cinnamon and the raisins if you're using them. Finely chop the stalks of the coriander and add these to the pan too. Cook for 20 minutes with the lid on, adding a little boiling water to allow the onions etc to sweat. You don't want the pan to be swimming with water, just enough water to stop the cinnamon from sticking to the bottom of the pan.

Once the 20 minutes are up you want to add the squash, followed by the olives (bash the stones out of them first if you've got ones with the stones in), the chickpeas (juice as well!) and the chopped tomatoes. Crumble in the stock cube and add 500ml of boiling water (if you feel you need to add a little less then that's OK) . Turn the heat up to medium and simmer for 40 minutes, lid off, until the stew is lovely and thick. Stir occasionally.

Cook the couscous how the packet instructs and tip it onto a large plate once it's done. Spoon the stew over the top and drizzle the natural yoghurt over the whole thing. Then scatter the fresh coriander leaves around the edge. And you're all done! Enjoy!

DML xxx