Quick Chilli - Nigella Lawson

Quick Chilli con Carne Recipe

This is most certainly, a very quick and easy way to make Chilli. There's no chopping or weighing involved. 

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We love the addition of chorizo in this recipe from her book Nigella Express.

Recipe Top Tips!

• Unless you're making this for kids, or you really don't like very much spice at all, you will need to liven it up because, in my opinion, it is way too bland as it is. See my note below.

• Don't forget to remove the skin from the Chorizo ring, it's not good to eat it. Most Spanish chorizo rings have skin that is actually indigestible so be sure to read the packaging.

• I say Nigella's recipe needs more spice! 

• I added 1 tablespoon of chilli flakes, 2 teaspoons of cumin and coriander plus 1 teaspoon of Pimentón de la Vera (as used by Jamie Oliver) which you can buy in Sainsbury's or over at Amazon.

Mixed beans

Tinned (canned) mixed beans are widely available here in the UK but I find the best ones are in Tesco's or Sainsbury's, although the sauce is very mild.

Chunky vegetable pasta sauce

The recipe also requires a jar of your favourite chunky vegetable pasta sauce and again this one from Tesco is cheap and cheerful, and just the very thing.

Although the mixed beans I used were in a spicy sauce I still added chilli flakes. Once you've gathered the ingredients together, you'll find this is such a simple recipe.

Quick chilli con carne

Chorizo, sweet chilli sauce, ground coriander, cumin, cinnamon and cardamom pods.

Put the sliced chorizo into a hot, heavy-based pan and cook over medium heat until the sausage crisps a little and gives up its lovely orange-red oil.

Now remove the chorizo and set it aside, but don't bother to clean the pan. Add the mince and cook for about 10 minutes, breaking it up with a wooden spoon, and cook till it browns.

Once the mince has been browned, stir in the spices. Now add the chunky vegetable pasta sauce along with the sweet chilli sauce.

Add the can of beans and their spicy sauce. If you use beans in water be sure to drain them well. Bring to a boil and then turn down the heat and simmer for 20 or so minutes.

When it's nice and hot, add back in the chorizo and cook for a minute more to heat the chorizo through.

Have a taste and add the chilli flakes if you need more heat or if you've managed to find canned beans in water and not in chilli sauce.

If you can spy them, try to remove those cardamoms, they taste quite horrid if bitten into, a bit like eating a flower, not that I ever have, I'm just saying! 😉

Nigella adds the chorizo back in much earlier on in the recipe but I think it tends to go a funny colour so I add mine back at this stage.

Once you're happy with the seasoning and amount of spice, that's it, it's done.

Serve the chilli with rice and a nice side salad, or whatever else you fancy.

Any leftovers from this recipe can be frozen for a very quick and easy dinner another day. Or, how about turning leftovers into my Chilli Pasta Bake recipe? 😋

Have you tried this recipe? Please leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ star rating in the recipe card below!

quick chilli con carne recipe, nigella lawson, quick chilli recipe, easy chili recipe

main, dinner

Mexican

Yield: 4

Author: Jan Bennett

Quick Chilli con Carne - Nigella Lawson

Delicious and certainly quick to make!

Prep time: 5 MinCook time: 30 MinTotal time: 35 Min

Ingredients

• 150g chorizo sausage - cut into 5 mm slices then each slice halved to make half-moons
• 500g minced beef - nice and lean with no more than 10% fat
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin - see note below
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander - see note below
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon - see note below
• 3 cardamom pods - bruised by bashing gently with the back of a knife
• 1 x 400g jar of your favourite tomato and chunky vegetable sauce for pasta
• 1 x 390g can mixed beans in spicy tomato sauce
• 3 tablespoons sweet chilli sauce
• a pinch or two dried chilli flakes (optional) or if your canned beans are not spicy - see note below

Instructions

1. Put the sliced chorizo into a hot, heavy-based pan and cook over medium heat until the sausage crisps a little and gives up its orange-red oil.
2. Now remove the chorizo and set it aside - but don't bother to clean the pan.
3. Add the mince and cook for about 10 minutes, breaking it up with a wooden spoon, and cook till it browns.
4. Once the mince has browned, stir in the spices and add the pasta sauce along with the sweet chilli sauce.
5. Add the can of beans and their spicy sauce. If you use beans in water be sure to drain them well.
6. Bring to a boil and then turn down the heat and simmer for 20 or so minutes.
7. When it's nice and hot, add back in the chorizo and cook for a minute more to heat the chorizo through.
8. Now have a taste and add the chilli flakes if you need more heat or if you've managed only to find canned beans in water.
9. Don't forget to remove those cardamoms, they taste quite horrid if bitten into, a bit like eating a flower, not that I ever have!
10. Nigella adds the chorizo back in much earlier on in the recipe but I think it tends to go a funny colour so I add mine back at this stage.
11. Serve the chilli with rice and a nice side salad, or whatever else you fancy.

Notes

• Unless you're making this for kids, or you really don't like very much spice at all, you will need to liven it up because, in my opinion, it's way too bland as it is.
• Even though my beans were in a spicy sauce, I found I still needed to add 1 tablespoon of chilli flakes, 2 tsp of cumin and coriander plus 1tsp Pimentón de la Vera (hot smoked paprika).

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