Chile - Porotos Granados

This week I travelled back to South America! Well, my mind and taste buds did – and boy do I miss it! Normally when I have researched the cuisine of other South American countries I have enjoyed seeing how they have different versions and interpretations of the dishes that I grew up eating in Colombia. Most South American countries will have a version of an empanada, an arepa (corn cake), bean stews, meaty soups (some made with offal), and wonderful corn, cassava and plantain dishes. Chile was no different, but I must confess that I enjoyed reading about their adaptations a little more than some of the other countries (sorry Bolivia), some of their adaptations seem to be a little bit more refined, a little lighter on the excessive fats and carbohydrates, and a bit more adventure with some of the ingredients. I have made a small list of dishes that I would really like to come back to at some point – but for this week I really fancied soup and so I made this very simple but really quite delicious bean, sweetcorn and pumpkin soup – which was made with a light tomato and basil broth! I used Pilar Hernandez's recipe which can be found here. the only adaptation I made was that I decided to cut the basil up and leave it in, I love basil and hated the thought of throwing it out!

It was delicious and ever so simple – specially as I used tinned beans!

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 1 fine chopped yellow onion

• 1 teaspoon of paprika

• 2 cups of chopped butternut squash or pumpkin in cubes of 1 cm

• 2 cups of sweetcorn corn (frozen or tinned is fine)

• 2 cans of Cannellini Beans

• 2 cups of vegetable broth or water (using a stock cube is fine for this recipe)

• 3 diced tomatoes

• 1 handful of chopped basil

• 1tbsp oil

• Salt, pepper, cumin to taste.

Method

1. In a medium saucepan, heat over medium-high heat, add a tablespoon of oil. Add the paprika and onion and cook for 5-8 minutes.

2. Add the squash, corn, the broth (or water and stock cube), the beans, and the tomatoes. Stir. Add salt, pepper, cumin and basil. Cook covered for 20 minutes or until the beans and squash are cooked. Taste and adjust the seasoning if needed and serve.