Recipe: Chilli Con Carne - Midweek Meals

We stayed home during the Easter break but escaped every day and ate out, one of our favourite places to stop before we head to Wales is Weobley in Herefordshire. The village is part of the Black and White Villages Heritage Trail, and a gem in the village is The Gables Tea Room, the food here is amazing and it has a unique warmth and cosiness from the moment you open the door, it was bitterly cold on the day we visited and everyone made a beeline to the welcoming log burner.

At some point I had to cook over the holiday and looking through a few of my Waitrose recipes found this quick chilli con carne recipe which is taken from their November 2012 magazine.  The secret ingredient is a piece of dark chocolate added at the end of the cooking time,  it really does make a difference and gives a great depth of flavour to the finished chilli.

Chilli is a great midweek meal and can be served simply with a jacket potato and a serving of rice, well that's how we like ours.

It isn't the most attractive of dishes but served in a fabulous casserole and dressed with either coriander or parsley makes a huge difference to the eye.

Adapted recipe.

Serves: 4

2 tablespoons olive oil, 500g Aberdeen Angus mincebeef, 1 chopped onion, 2 crushed garlic cloves, 1 red chilli finely chopped, 1½ tsp cumin, 1 tsp mild chilli powder, 1½ tsp dried oregano, 1 tbsp tomato puree, 400g can chopped tomatoes, 400g can organic red kidney beans (rinsed), 1 piece of dark chocolate, parsley leaves to decorate.

1. Heat a tbsp of oil in a large pan and cook half the mincebeef until brown, cook the remaining mincebeef.
2. Cook the onion, chilli and garlic in the pan with the remaining olive oil.  Cook gently until the onion has softened.
3. In a pan dry fry the cumin until the seeds release their flavour, tip into a pestle and mortar and grind to a fine powder.  Add the ground cumin, chilli powder, dried oregano and tomato puree to the pan containing the onion and cook for 2 minutes.
4. Return the mincebeef to the pan, add the chopped tomatoes and 250ml of water.  Bring to the boil, simmer, cover and cook for 45 minutes.
5. Stir in the rinsed beans and the chocolate, season.