Easy chilli con carne

This is a really easy chilli con carne recipe. It has loads of flavour even though it uses mostly store cupboard ingredients. You can experiment with how hot it is by leaving the seeds in the fresh chillies or adding a pinch of dried chilli flakes.

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 onions, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1kg/2lb 4oz lean beef mince
• 250ml/9fl oz red wine (optional)
• 2 x 400g tins chopped tomatoes
• 3 tbsp tomato purée
• 2 red chillies, thinly sliced, or 3–4 tsp dried chilli flakes
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1 cinnamon stick or ½ tsp ground cinnamon
• good shake of Worcestershire sauce
• 1 beef stock cube
• 2 x 400g tins red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 large bunch fresh coriander leaves, roughly chopped
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• lime wedges, rice, guacamole, soured cream and green salad, to serve

Method

1. Heat the oil in a large, heavy-based saucepan with a lid and fry the onion and garlic until softened. Increase the heat and add the mince, cooking quickly until browned and breaking down any chunks of meat with a wooden spoon. Pour in the red wine, if using, and boil for 2–3 minutes.

2. Stir in the tomatoes, tomato purée, fresh chilli or chilli flakes, cumin, ground coriander, cinnamon and Worcestershire sauce and crumble in the stock cube. Season well with salt and pepper.

3. Bring to a simmer, cover with a lid and cook over a gentle heat for about 50 minutes to 1 hour, stirring occasionally until the mixture is rich and thickened.

4. Add the kidney beans and fresh coriander. Cook for a further 10 minutes, uncovered, before removing from the heat and add any extra seasoning if necessary.

5. Serve with lime wedges, rice, guacamole, soured cream and a big green salad.

Easy chilli con carne