Sweet Maple Squash Beans

 

Ingredients

3 cups of roasted squash (I used kabocha but any sweet type will do)

2 cups dried white beans

1 cup soy milk (optional)

4 cups water (5 cups if not using soy milk)

¼ cup plus 2 tbsp maple syrup (kabocha is a sweet squash, you may need to adjust maple if using a different type)

2 garlic cloves, finely minced

1 small onion, finely minced

2 tbsp molasses

2 tbsp oil

2 tsp sea salt

1/8 tsp cinnamon

4 sprigs fresh thyme

Crack of fresh black pepper

 

Preparation

Parboil the white beans in a large pot for 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and cut your squash down the middle. Remove the seeds and membrane (save for another use). Place the cut squash face down on the parchment and bake until completely cooked. This will depend on the size of squash – usually 30 minutes to an hour. You squash should have brown outer skin and the flesh will be easy to scoop out. Once cooked, remove from oven and let cool.

In a large Dutch oven with an oven safe lid, heat 2 tbsp oil on a medium heat. Add minced onion and sauté for about 15 minutes. Add garlic and sauté for another 5 minutes.

Place 3 cups of roasted kabocha in a blender and add the soy milk, water, maple syrup, molasses, sea salt, cinnamon, and pepper. Blend until smooth.

Add cooked white beans to the Dutch oven with the onion/garlic mixture and then stir in the squash purée and the sprigs of thyme.

Increase heat in oven to 425 degrees F. Place the lid on the Dutch oven and bake beans for 1 hour. Remove lid and bake for about another hour - stirring frequently.

Remove from oven and discard thyme sprigs. Season with sea salt and pepper and serve on buttered crusty bread for any meal of the day!

 

Enjoy!