Chilli con carne

A good, slow-cooked chilli is always great for feeding a crowd. I usually serve it with nachos but you can choose whatever you fancy – rice, jacket potatoes, flatbreads, – it’s your call.

This great chilli recipe is an easy sharing favourite that uses up pantry ingredients.

I like my chilli hot, but you can adjust the spices according to your taste.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 kg minced beef or pork

• 2 medium onions finely chopped

• 1 clove chopped garlic

• 1 Red chilli chopped

• 2 tsp hot chili powder

• 3 tsp cumin

• 1 tsp ground ginger

• 2 tsp sweet paprika

• 2 tsp dried oregano

• 3 fresh tomatoes, roughly chopped

• 1 can chopped tomatoes

• 1 red bell pepper cut in cubes

• 1 green bell pepper cut in cubes

• 3 tbs tomato paste

• 1 cube vegetable stock

• 1tsp sugar

• Salt and pepper to taste

• olive oil for frying

INSTRUCTIONS:

Prepare your vegetables

• Finely chop 2 medium onions

• Cut 1 red chilli pepper in half lengthways, remove stalk and wash the seeds away, then chop

• Cut 1 red and 1 green bell peppers in cubes around 5cm

• Peel and finely chop 1 garlic clove

Start cooking.

• Put your pan over a medium heat

• Add 1 tbsp oil and leave it for 1-2 minutes until hot

• Add the onion and cook, stirring fairly frequently, for about 5 minutes, or until the onion is soft, squidgy and slightly translucent

• Tip in the garlic, red chilli pepper, bell peppers, hot chilli powder, paprika, ginger, oregano and cumin

• Give it a good stir, then leave it to cook for another 5 minutes, stirring occasionally

• Turn a bit higher the heat and add the meat. The mix should sizzle a bit when you add the mince

• Keep stirring and prodding for at least 5 minutes, until all the mince is in uniform, mince-sized lumps and there are no more pink bits. Make sure you keep the heat hot enough for the meat to fry and become brown, rather than just stew

• Crumble 1 vegetable stock cube into 300ml hot water

• Pour this into the pan with the mince mixture.

• Add the chopped fresh tomatoes and the can with chopped tomatoes and cook for 5 more minutes

• Tip 1 tsp sugar, add a good shake of salt and pepper and about 3 tbsp tomato purée and stir the sauce well

• Simmer it gently

• Bring the whole thing to the boil, give it a good stir and put a lid on the pan. Turn down the heat until it is gently bubbling and leave it for 20 minutes.

• Check on the pan occasionally to stir it and make sure the sauce doesn’t catch on the bottom of the pan or isn’t drying out. If it is, add a couple of tablespoons of water and make sure that the heat really is low enough

• After simmering gently, the saucy mince mixture should look thick, moist and juicy

Optional:

• Drain a can of red kidney beans and stir them into the chilli pot

• Bring to the boil again, and gently bubble without the lid for another 10 minutes, adding a little more water if it looks too dry

• Taste a bit of the chilli and season

• Turn off the heat, cover with the lid and leave your chilli to stand for 10 minutes before serving. This is really important as it allows the flavours to mingle.

• Serve with soured cream and plain boiled long grain rice

WAYS TO ENJOY CHILLI
1. Serve it with plain, boiled rice or Jacket potatoes and soured cream or stained yogurt on top
2. Pile it on tortilla chips and sprinkle it with grated melted cheddar cheese
3. Guacamole dip goes also great with chilli