North African Butternut Squash and Chickpea Stew

Another Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall recipe that I have tweaked to suit my store cupboard contents; despite having a large library of cookbooks, I keep coming back to his 'Veg Everyday!' cookbook because it's so fabulous. This is essentially a Moroccan stew, but the addition of pasta means this is a one-pot dish and you don't need to serve with any carb e.g. cous cous. The low pasta content (in fact I added more to Hugh's original recipe) in the stew also means those who would rather have it without can, in my view, remove it without fear of compromising the recipe too much. I bought saffron especially for this, because I've always seen it in recipes and omitted it, but felt like trying it out. I have to admit that I balked at the price - four GB pounds for a small jar! However, I pressed on and bought it anyway. I have to admit, I'm not sure how much it adds to the dish - perhaps a subtle flavour - so if you too do not feel like shelling out for such an expensive spice then feel free to omit that too.

Serves 4

Ingredients:

2 large onions
3 garlic cloves
1 inch fresh ginger (or 1/2 tsp ginger)
1/2 tsp celery salt (or 1 celery stalk)
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp ground turmeric
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
100g red lentils
1 x 400g tin chickpeas, drained
8 saffon strands (optional)
1 x 400g chopped tinned tomatoes + 2 tbsp tomato paste (or 500ml passata)
2 tsp dried parsley
large bunch coriander, chopped (optional; if you strongly dislike coriander then you can just omit)
300g squash
1 litre vegetable stock
1 bay leaf
80g orzo or other small pasta such as macaroni (optional)

Instructions:
1. Chop onion, grate/chop garlic and ginger, and fry in oil on a low heat until softened.

2. Add celery salt, pepper, cinammon and turmeric and fry for a few minutes.

3. Add lentils, chickpeas, saffron, tinned tomatoes and paste, parsley and the coriander (if using), reserving just a a small amount of coriander to serve. Cook on a low heat for 15 minutes.

4. Peel the squash and chop into cubes. Add to the pan along with the stock and bay leaf. Simmer for 30 minutes.

5. Add the pasta and cook on a low heat until cooked through. Serve with fresh coriander and/or chillies if desired.