Autumn is well and truly here all of a sudden, and just as quickly, my want of hot comfort food has leapt into action. The great thing about Chilli Con Carne is you can make up a huge batch, and it will last all week, getting better even as the flavours mature in the fridge. You can make it with beef mince which is probably more traditional.
Easy Chilli Con Carne
Print RecipeIngredients
- 1 tablespoon of olive oil
- 1 tablespoon of butter
- 1/2 white onion, diced to your liking
- 2 cloves of fresh garlic, diced
- 2 tablespoons of flour, seasoned with salt and pepper
- 450 grams of ground beef
- 3 tablespoons of tomato puree
- 400 grams of chopped tomatoes
- 400 grams of pre-cooked kidney beans
- 1/2 beef stock cube
- 1 tablespoon of black treacle
- 1 teaspoon of mixed spice
- 50 ml of red wine
- 2 cubes of dark chocolate
- Small handful of fresh coriander, roughly chopped
- 1 teaspoon of salt
- 1 teaspoon of black pepper
Instructions
- Heat olive oil and butter in a casserole pan over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and soften for a few minutes before pouring them into a bowl and setting to one side. Return the pan to heat. Toss the beef mince in the seasoned flour and add to the pan, ramping up the heat. Fry hard until browned on all sides. Lower the heat back to medium, then add the onions and garlic to the pan.
- Add all the rest of the ingredients for the chilli, including all the liquid the kidney beans came in and another glassful of water (I usually refill the kidney bean tin once empty with water and chuck that in). Stir well. Decrease the heat and simmer gently for a good hour to 90 minutes, stirring occasionally. Don’t worry if some of the mixture starts to stick to the bottom; scrape it with a wooden spoon and mix in; it will add to the flavour. The liquid should thicken and turn a rich, deep burgundy colour. I serve mine with jacket potatoes, cheddar cheese, sour cream and chopped coriander.
