Chilli Con Carne

A staple in most people's repertoire and certainly one of my most cooked dishes over the years. I tend to batch cook this nowadays, so I end up with a few extra portions for the freezer to use when I need something pre-prepared. The spice element is up to you. I like quite a kick but not that it burns my mouth. You can adjust to suit your tastes. Give it a go, it isn't as complicated as you might think.

Recipe Ingredients

500g lean minced beef

1 white onion finely chopped

1 red pepper finely chopped

2 red chillies finely chopped

1 tbsp tomato puree

8-10 fresh cherry tomatoes, halved

1 tin kidney beans

1 tin chopped tomatoes

a splash of Worcestershire sauce

1 tbsp olive oil (I used Lime and chilli flavour)

tsp dried chilli flakes

tsp garlic powder

tsp mild chilli powder

salt and black pepper to taste

Method

Add the olive oil to a large pan on a low/med heat. Add the onions and chopped chillies and cook gently for 2-3 minutes before adding the red pepper. Stir and cook for a further 2 mins.

Add the garlic powder, chilli powder and flaked chillies and stir.

Next add in the minced beef and combine. Cook for a few minutes until the meat changes from red to brown.

Add in the Worcestershire sauce, salt & pepper and tomato puree and stir together.

Next add in the halved fresh tomatoes and the tin of chopped tomatoes and stir together before adding the tin of kidney beans to the pan. Stir in the kidney beans, turn the heat down to low and pop a lid on your pan and let it gently simmer for about an hour.