We’ll be honest – we weren’t sure if this was going to work but we’re always looking for different ways to use our chipotle paste so we gave it a go – and were very pleasantly surprised. It really does make a simple but surprisingly tasty, meat-free dinner.
Serves 2-3
Ingredients
For the roasted veg
1 medium-sized butternut squash, peeled, deseeded and cut into 2cm slices
4 medium-sized shallots, skin on
3 bay leaves
a few sprigs of thyme
3 tbsp rapeseed oil
pinch of sea salt
For the lentils
150g green lentils
1 garlic clove
pinch of sea salt
For the chipotle yogurt
6 tbsp thick Greek yogurt
1 tbsp tahini
1½ tbsp chipotle paste (we obviously used Case for Cooking’s paste!)
For the seeds
2 tbsp pumpkin seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
½ tsp rapeseed oil
Instructions
1. Soak the lentils for at least 2 hours or overnight.
2. Heat the oven to 180C / 160C fan / Gas Mark 4. Mix the squash, shallots, bay, thyme, rapeseed oil and sea salt together in a roasting tin, cover with foil and roast for 45 minutes.
3. After 20 minutes of roasting, put the lentils in a saucepan with the garlic clove and salt. Cover with water and bring to the boil, then simmer for 20-25 mins until the lentils are soft but still slightly firm to bite. Drain, remove the bay and garlic and cover with a lid.
4. When the 45 minutes of roasting is up (see point 2), remove the foil (don’t throw it away though) and roast for 10 more minutes, until the veg is tender. Remove from the oven and replace the foil.
5. Turn the oven up to 200C / 180C fan / Gas Mark 6. In a separate small roasting dish, toss the pumpkin seeds with the cumin, oil and a pinch of salt. Roast for 5-6 minutes.
6. While the seeds are roasting ,combine the yoghurt, tahini and chipotle chilli paste. Uncover the roasting dish and squeeze the roasted shallots out of their skins.
7. Serve the roasted veg on a bed of lentils, sprinkled with the seeds and the yogurt on the side – or the top!
Adapted from a BBC Good Food Recipe from September 2020