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Meat / Vegetarian Chilli

Recipe

Easy Vegetarian Chilli

Serves 8

Ingredients

  • 2 tbsp vegetable oil;
  • 2 carrots finely chopped
  • 2 sticks celery finely chopped
  • 2 onions finely chopped
  • 2 tsp dried mixed herbs
  • 2 garlic cloves crushed or finely grated
  • 1 red pepper  sliced
  • 1 green pepper sliced
  • 2-3 tsp chilli powder
  • 2 tsp sweet smoked paprika
  • 2 tbsp tomato puree
  • 400g can red kidney beans drained
  • 400g can black beans drained
  • 800g chopped canned tomatoes
  • 400ml vegetable stock
  • Cooked rice, grated cheddar cheese and sour cream to serve.

Method

  • Heat the oil in a large saucepan over a low-medium heat and fry the carrots, celery, onions and mixed herbs for 10-12 mins, stirring occasionally until the veg is soft but not golden. You may need to add a splash of water if the veg starts to catch.
  • Stir in the garlic and both peppers, and cook for a further 5 mins until the peppers begin to soften.
  • Sprinkle in the chilli powder and paprika, turn up the heat to medium, then stir and cook for 1 min.
  • Mix in the tomato purée and cook for a further 1 min, then pour in all of the beans, the tomatoes and stock
  • Stir well, bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer.
  • Cook for 25-35 mins until the beans are tender and the sauce has thickened.
  • Serve with rice, grated cheddar and soured cream, if you like.

Chilli Con Carne

Ingredients

  • 1 large onion
  • 1 red pepper
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • 1 tbsp oil
  • 1 heaped tsp chilli powder [if using a mild blend add a level tbsp].
  • 1 tsp paprika
  • 1 tsp ground cummin
  • 500g lean minced beef
  • 1 beef stock cube
  • 400g can chopped tomatoes
  • ½ tsp dried marjoram
  • 1tsp sugar
  • 2 tbsp tomato puree
  • 410g can red kidney beans
  • Boiled rice, sour cream  to serve

Method

  • Prepare your vegetables. Chop 1 large onion into small dice, about 5mm square. The easiest way to do this is to cut the onion in half from root to tip, peel it and slice each half into thick matchsticks lengthways, not quite cutting all the way to the root end so they are still held together. Slice across the matchsticks into neat dice.
  • Cut 1 red pepper in half lengthways, remove stalk and wash the seeds away, then chop. Peel and finely chop 2 garlic cloves.
  • Start cooking. Put your pan on the hob over a medium heat. Add 1 tbsp oil and leave it for 1-2 minutes until hot (a little longer for an electric hob).
  • 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 pepper, chilli powder paprika and ground cumin.
  • Give it a good stir, then leave it to cook for another 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  • Brown 500g lean minced beef.
  • Turn the heat up a bit, add the meat to the pan and break it up with your spoon or spatula. 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.
  • Make the sauce. Crumble  stock cube into 300ml hot water. Pour this into the pan with the mince mixture.
  • Add chopped tomatoes. Tip in dried marjoram, sugar and add a good shake of salt and pepper. Squirt in 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.
  • Drain and rinse the red kidney beans in a sieve 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. It will probably take a lot more seasoning than you think.
  • Now replace the lid, turn off the heat 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.