Quick chilli

For the first time, I have been so tempted by a chilli recipe that I have decided to try it.  Usually, I look at recipes for chilli and decide to stick with my own after reminding myself of the saying 'if it's not broke, don't fix it'! 

The reason behind my decision to try a new chilli recipe?  Simple - this recipe includes chorizo which is one of my favourite ingredients! 

The recipe I am using is Nigella Lawson's Quick chilli from her book Nigella Express cookbook.  I have typed it out as Nigella has written it below.  After the method I have included some alterations that I made to the recipe in order to make sure that it is suitable for the baby to eat.

The recipe is as follows:-

Ingredients
150g chorizo sausage (not the salami sort), halved length ways and cut into 5mm half moons
500g minced beef
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 cardamon pods, bruised
1 x 500g jar good-quality tomato and chunky vegetable sauce for pasta
1 x 390g mixed spicy beans
60ml sweet chilli sauce
1/4 teaspoon chilli flakes (optional, or if your beans are not spicy)


Method

1. Put the sliced chorizo into a hot, heavy-based pan and cook over a medium heat until the sausage crisps a little and gives up its orange-red oil.
2. Add the mince and cook for about 5 minutes, breaking it up with a wooden fork to help it brown.
3. Stir in the spices and then add the tomato-vegetable pasta sauces, spicy beans and chilli sauce.  Also add the chilli flakes if you need more heat or if you've managed only to find some regular canned beans.
4. Bring to the boil and then turn down the heat and simmer for 20 minutes.
5. You can eat this with rice or just as it is.  If you're not adding any rice, you might consider dolloping with a blob of sour cream and sprinkling some grated cheese and chopped coriander.  I can't think of a way of eating this that isn't good.

Alterations
I made a few swaps when making my Quick Chilli to make sure that it was suitable for feeding to my baby.  To lower the salt in the recipe I opted to use a 800g can of chopped tomatoes instead of the pasta sauce.  I also used non-spicy beans and added the chilli flakes that were suggested by Nigella.  I was concerned that the sauce in the spicy beans may have salt and sugar added to it.  Plus, I already had non-spicy beans in my cupboard, so I didn't need to buy them.

I had two forced alterations - my cardamon pods had gone off and I have run out of ground coriander so I couldn't add either of these ingredients.  Having never tasted the chilli before I didn't miss them, however the next time I make it I might add them to see how they alter the taste of the dish.
As I wasn't adding a pasta sauce with vegetables added to it I decided to add a finely chopped two small onions and a grated carrot large to the chilli in order to make sure that some vegetables other than the chopped tomatoes were included.

To make the meal stretch further additional vegetables could be added to the recipe.  If I was to make it again I think that I would add some mushrooms and grated courgette to bulk it up and increase my family's intake of vegetables.

Tip
Although this recipe is quick to make, if I was making it again I would make it the night before and re-heat for dinner when I get home from work.  Doing this would mean that it would only take as long as it takes to prepare the rice to have the dinner ready.

Cost
I used a pound of mince in this recipe - I know it says 500g, but I still buy it in pounds and have no idea how many grams is in a pound.  Anyway, the pound of mince I used came from my butchers and cost €3.  The chorizo I used were cooking chorizo that I bought in Marks and Spencer's on offer - 2 packs of 6 chorizo sausages for €7.  I used 3 sausages in my chilli, so that is a cost of €1.75.  The chopped tomatoes were €1.  The can of mix beans I used was bought in Aldi a while ago and I can not remember the cost of it, so have estimated it at €1.  For the remaining ingredients - spices, onions and carrot - I am allowing 50 cent.  The total cost for my version of the recipe is €5.50.

Using my version of the recipe I made enough chilli to feed my family of 4 (2 adults, a pre-schooler and a baby) two nights.  The portions were generous and I served them with rice.  I think that including the cost of the rice, the meal cost €3 for each night.