Chilli Con Carne used to be one of my favourite meals. Something about that rich, spicy, tomato-based sauce really hit the spot – Mexicans totally got it right. I was a bit of a gorger with rice, tortilla chips (plus avocado, you got yummy nachos), folded inside wraps, and always with a blob of guacamole on the side. Today I’ll share this turkey chilli con carne recipe I love with you.
But since beef isn’t something I eat anymore, there was this slight gaping hole for a while. I went through a phase of making it with Quorn mince (Chilli Con Quorn), but looking on the back of the packet, it’s made up of many things (like calcium acetate) that aren’t real food. For all its protein-packed benefits, Quorn (proudly producing an endless supply of meat-free ‘meat’ such as Quorn chicken pieces and quorn pork pies) is made primarily of something called mycoprotein, which apparently comes from a fungus and is grown in vats using glucose syrup as food. It’s not animal protein, which you might think can only be a good thing; but it’s completely processed and artificial, and just really isn’t that good for your body, whatever it claims on the label.
Dropping Chilli Con Quorn, I recently made a cauldron-sized amount of Turkey Chilli Con Carne Recipe but bursting with vegetables. And I have to say the flavours are unique – the sweet, aromatic Romano pepper with the soft and fluffy roasted aubergine and courgette, all mixed with tomato, kidney beans, chilli, cumin, and cinnamon, just melts on the tongue. I don’t miss Beef Chill Con Carne one bit, and this Turkey Chilli Con Carne Recipe is so tastier than Chill Con Quorn.
Pepper, aubergine and courgette are still in season, which is excellent, though the summer vegetables are coming to their end, so I just had to make use of them while they’re still growing.
Kidney beans are full of nutritional goodness such as vitamin B9 and fibre, promoting cardiovascular health. They’re also crammed with antioxidants and, when eaten with rice, can provide a complete protein for your body. Kidney beans are low in the essential amino acid lysine, but rice is a rich source of it, so eating them together is just perfect. Even better, fragrant turmeric rice complements the vegetable chilli sauce, making the most delicious, spice-filled meal that is this Turkey Chilli Con Carne Recipe.
Appetizing Turkey Chilli Con Carne Recipe
Ingredients
2 pounds ground turkey (minced turkey)- 2 medium aubergines
2 medium courgettes also called zucchini (Courgettes French / Zucchini Italian)
3 medium red pepper (red capsicum) - Romano
1 medium red chili (red chilli in British English)
2 medium red onion
2 cloves garlic
1 teaspoon chili powder (chilli powder in British English)
1½ teaspoons cumin - ground
½ teaspoon cinnamon
180 grams tomato paste - sun-dried
70 grams passata or crushed tomatoes (tomato puree with seeds removed)
800 grams cherry tomatoes - peeled
800 grams red kidney beans- 22 tablespoons rapeseed oil
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon Sea salt
400 grams brown rice - long-grain
1½ teaspoons turmeric
Instructions
- Start by preheating the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Chop the aubergines into 1½ inch-sized pyramids and slice the courgettes into fairly thick discs, similar to the aubergine pieces. Place them on baking trays and drizzle with a good glug of rapeseed oil, stirring them around to make sure they’re all thinly coated, and then pop them in the oven for about 30 minutes.
- While roasting, cut the peppers into thin slices about 2 inches long, roughly chop the onions and squeeze the garlic cloves through a garlic press. Finely chop the chilli, discarding the seeds (and make sure you give your fingers a good wash when you’re done). Add the olive oil to a large casserole pan (I like Le Creuset the best), heat to a medium temperature and fry the onion for a couple of minutes, stirring constantly.
- Next, add the garlic, chopped chilli and Romano pepper until all the ingredients have softened. Add turkey.
- Check the aubergine and courgette in the oven, giving the pieces a good stir to bake evenly. Add the chilli powder, cumin, cinnamon, and salt and pepper to the casserole pan and stir until the vegetables are coated. Then pour in the tins of cherry tomatoes, followed by the sun-dried tomato paste and tomato purée. Allow this to come to a boil, then drain the kidney beans and add them. Reduce the heat a little, put the lid on and let the mixture simmer away.
- When this is all done, bring a large pan of water to the boil and add the rice and turmeric, turning down to a simmer for 25 minutes, giving it an occasional stir. After the 30 minutes have passed, remove the aubergine and courgette from the oven – they should be lovely and soft and slightly golden. Add the pieces to the casserole pan, stir them in and replace the lid.
- When the 25 minutes is up, test the rice to make sure it’s soft enough for your liking and then drain in a sieve. Serve with the Chilli Sin Carne and some homemade guacamole, and enjoy the wonderful Mexican flavours!
