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It’s chili time baby! The weather right now is just calling to cook yourself a delicious chili sin carne. Because when it’s wet, cold and unappetizing outside, there’s nothing better. Today’s version is completely vegan and fully seasonal. As today`s star of the show is the pumpkin!
Did you already buy pumpkin this autumn? No? then it`s definitely about time to do so! Sure this chili tastes delicious without pumpkin as well. But to get this truly creamy consistency you will need some pumpkin in your chili.
Brevity is the soul of wit?
This may apply to many areas of life. However, definitely not on the preparation of chili. Experience has taught me; good chili takes time. Therefore I recommend you to plan some extra time when cooking this hearty meal. I cook my chili for at least 5 hours at low heat. This way you allow the flavors and the spiciness to really come through. And with this fall version, patience definitely is worth it, as the pumpkin will melt like butter and make the chili super creamy.
Don’t worry, the recipe itself is simple and not complicated at all. You don’t have to stand next to the pot while your fallish chili con pumpkin is cooking.
Fallish chili con pumpkin quick version
Ok, ok, not everyone wants to cook beans for 5 hours…. Even if it`s totally worth it! So if you want to make this dish quickly, I recommend canned beans and a cooking time of 60 minutes. This is my last offer though *lol*.
Dried beans vs. canned beans
In principle, we try to avoid canned food because of the preservatives and the materials used in canned foods. In the end everyone has to decide for himself/herself and we use them from time to time as well.
However, this recipe is designed for dried beans! If you use canned beans and cook them for 5 hours you`ll end up with mashed beans and no chili! So for canned beans you have to choose the quick version.
In conclusion, I used my multi-cooker in the slow cook function for this recipe. This allows our fallish chili con pumpkin to simmer all by itself for 5 hours without you having to stand next to it. No stirring nothing at all. The device is definitely an enrichment in my kitchen. However, it`s not necessary for this recipe to be a success! A regular pan and occasional stirring will do the same. Personally, I simply enjoy the luxury that the appliance cooks and I can go out and do something while my chili is getting cooked.
Before I wish you a lot of fun trying out this recipe, if you don’t like it hot, just leave out the chipotle and the tabasco and exchange the Mexican salsa for regular tomato sauce. That’s it! Now enjoy cooking this hearty chili.
Read you soon
Sarah
Chili con Pumpkin
Equipment
- slow cooker (optional)
Ingredients
- 250 g white beans organic
- 250 g red kidney beans organic
- 1 kg pumpkin organic
- 2 tbsp olive oil organic
- 1 onion organic
- 3 cloves of garlic organic
- 650 g Mexican tomato salsa
- 600 ml water
- 2 tsp salt organic
- black pepper organic
- ¼ tsp chipotle organic
- ground coriander seeds organic
- 2 tsp Mexican spice mixture organic
- 1 tsp tabasco
- 2 tsp oregano organic
- 1 corncob organic
- 1 red pepper organic
- 1 yellow pepper organic
Instructions
- Soak beans in water overnight.
- Cut the pumpkin into coarse pieces. Remove seeds and skin. The seeds can be dried and roasted in the oven.
- Peel the onion and garlic. Chop the onion into small pieces and press the garlic.
- Heat the olive oil in a pan and sauté the onion briefly. Add the garlic and sauté briefly.
- Add beans, pumpkin pieces, salsa, water and all spices. Mix well and simmer at low temperature for about 4 hours until the beans are soft but still firm to the bite.
- Halve the peppers, remove the seeds and white partitions and cut into pieces.
- Separate the corn from the cobs.
- Add both ingredients to the chili and simmer the chili again for about 60 minutes.