
John's chilli con carne
A warm, comforting chilli is the ultimate family meal. This dish is great for all seasons and has a mix of sweet (cascabel) and smoky (ancho) chillis to give it depth
- 80ml olive oil
- 2 large onionsroughly chopped
- 2 large dried ancho chillies(buy from Waitrose or ocado.com)
- 3 dried cascabel chillies(buy from Waitrose or ocado.com)
- 2 tsp smoked paprika
- 2 tsp dried thyme
- 3 celery sticksfinely chopped
- 1 beef stock cube
- 1.5kg beefshin, boneless and cut into large chunks
- 1 tbsp plain flour
- 3 carrotstrimmed, left whole
- 50ml maple syrup
- 1can chopped tomatoes
- 500ml bottle dark beer
- 500ml fresh beef stock
- fresh coriandersprigs, to serve
Nutrition: per serving (8)
- kcal449
- fat22g
- saturates6g
- carbs17g
- sugars13g
- fibre4g
- protein38g
- salt1.3g
Method
step 1
Heat oven to 160C/140C fan/ gas 3. Heat a large cast-iron pot or saucepan over a high flame, pour in the oil, then drop in the onions, chillies, paprika and thyme. Cook for 5 mins until the onions soften. Add the celery, give it a stir and crumble in the stock cube. Stir again and cook for another 5 mins
step 2
Add the beef, stir well, then colour for a few mins to coat the meat with the spices. Add the flour and coat everything with a more few stirs, then add the remaining ingredients, along with 1 tsp salt.
step 3
Let it come to the boil, then put a lid on, place in the oven, reduce the temperature to 140C/120C fan/ gas 1 and cook for 4 1 /2 hrs.
step 4
Take the pot out of the oven and remove the carrots, chop them into small chunks, then put them back in. I like plenty of sauce, but you may want to remove some if you don’t want it too saucy – be sure to keep it, it’s great on toast when cold. Remember to remove the chillies before you serve. Finally, scatter with coriander, if you like