Preparation

• 1
  1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees or 160 degrees fan oven. Slice the sweet potatoes in half lengthways and place, skin down, on a lightly oiled baking tray. Drizzle the cut surfaces with a little olive oil, season with a sprinkling of salt and bake for about 30 minutes, or until the potatoes are really tender. 2. Meanwhile, peel the onion and chop finely. Peel the carrot, wash the celery and courgette, then halve them all lengthwise and cut into pieces, not too thickly. Deseed the peppers, cut into quarters then slice into strips. Deseed and finely chop the chilli. Peel the cloves of garlic.
• 2
  3. Heat 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large saucepan and sauté the onion over a low heat for 3-4 minutes. Add the carrot, celery, crushed garlic, chilli and peppers and cook gently, stirring occasionally, for another 5 minutes.
• 3
  4. Stir in the sliced courgette. Add the canned tomatoes, drain and rinse the canned beans and stir them in too. Add the hot vegetable stock, the bay leaves, smoked paprika, chilli powder, tomato puree, marmite and a pinch of sugar then season with salt and black pepper. Mix everything together well and simmer for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until all of the vegetables are cooked. Stir in the juice of half a lime at the end of the cooking time and taste to check the spices and seasoning.
• 4
  5. Preheat the grill. Place two sweet potato halves into each individual dish, fitting fairly snugly, then spoon the chilli on top and into any spaces. Grate cheese on top of the chilli and place the dishes under the hot grill for a few minutes, until the cheese is bubbling and golden brown.
• 5
  Serve with a fresh crisp salad.