I love this recipe: it is an absolutely knockout veggie version of a warming Hungarian classic. The combination of butter and aduki beans works surprisingly well as a substitute for the traditional beef.
It is both filling and healthy and ideal for warming up after outdoor autumn events such as fireworks or trick or treating.
Vegetarian goulash
Ingredients
- Flesh of one small pumpkin, diced into roughly 3cm cubes
- Flesh of one butternut squash, of a similar size to your pumpkin, likewise cubed
- 2 carrots, cut into slices roughly 3cm thick
- 2 onions, chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- 1 red and 1 green pepper, peeled and finely diced
- 1 tin of chopped tomatoes
- 1/2 pint of low salt vegetable stock.
- 1 tin of butter beans
- 1 tin of aduki beans
- 1 tsp paprika
- 2 tsp smoked paprika
- Sprinkle of caraway seeds (optional)
Method
- Preheat the oven to 350F/180C.
- Chuck the pumpkin, squash and carrots into a roasting tin with a scant splash of oil and a sprinkle of caraway seeds, if using. Roast in the oven for 40 minutes or until soft.
- Meanwhile, sauté the onions and then add the garlic, peppers and the paprika. We find the combination of smoked and hot paprika results in the perfect match to the authentic beef version, but you can replace the smoked with regular, should you prefer.
- Add the tomatoes and stock, stir well, and then simmer gently to reduce the mixture gradually.
- After about seven minutes, add the aduki and butter beans and stir well again.
- Once the pumpkin and squash is roasted, tip the cubes into the ghoulash sauce. Depending on the consistency you prefer, there may be some pumpkin and squash left over.
- Stir and leave to simmer until you are ready to eat. You may need to thin the sauce with boiling water, or a little more stock. Serve with warmed bread.
Siobhan Blunden-Currie is a head of department in a secondary school. She will be providing recipes every Friday for Tes
