Winter Chilli con Carne

Rachel Lett
Span
Published in
2 min readFeb 20, 2019

This chilli will give you a cuddle and warm your bones on the coldest of winter night. This. Is. Comfort.

Nutriton

Fat : 17g
Protein : 33g
Net Carbohydrate : 4g
Calories : 318kcals

serves 6–8

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil & knob of butter
1 onion, finely chopped
3 cloves of garlic, crushed
1–3 red chillies (depending on heat and how you like it), sliced
1 kg of pork or beef mince, or mixture of both
1 tablespoons fennel seeds
1 tablespoons coriander seeds
1 tablespoons smoked paprika
1 cinnamon stick or 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon salt
3 tomatoes, roughly chopped
1 litre homemade chicken stock
1 bay leaf
1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup of coffee (optional)
Bunch of coriander, chopped
1–2 limes

Method

  • In a heavy based saucepan, sweat the onions with a glug of oil and knob of butter, over a low heat, with the lid on. Cook until soft and translucent.
  • While the onions cook, toast the fennel seeds, coriander seeds, smoked paprika and pepper in frying pan on a medium heat. Keep the spices moving, and take off the heat once they start smelling fragrant.

Toasting is essential for bringing the spices back to life; so don’t be tempted to skip this step. Otherwise the chilli will taste ‘flat’.

  • With a teaspoon of salt, grind the spices in a spice grinder or pestle and mortar and set aside.
  • Once the onions are cooked, add the garlic and chilli, and allow to cook for a further two minutes.
  • Turn up the heat and add the minced meat to brown, stirring continuously.
  • Once the meat is nicely browned, add the ground spices, bay leaf, tomatoes, vinegar, stock and coffee. Bring to the boil, and simmer on a low heat for at least 1 hour.

The longer you can leave it the better. If you have a slow cooker, you can put it in this and leave it to cook during the day or overnight.

  • At the end of cooking, turn up the heat and reduce the sauce till it’s thickened—this is key, you don’t want your chilli to be running all over the plate.
  • Finish the chilli with a squeeze of lime, chopped coriander and season to your taste. Trust your instinct here; it may need more salt, pepper or acid, for which you can add lime juice or apple cider vinegar.

Serve with cauliflower rice, avocado salsa and spring greens.

Bon App!

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