Yield: 4

Chilli Beef Pasta Bake
My Chilli Beef Pasta Bake is proper comfort food and is a great dish to make for when friends or family come round.
prep time: 10 minscook time: 1 hourtotal time: 1 hours and 10 mins
ingredients:
250g of cooked pasta - I used Tortiglioni
a good amount of grated Cheddar cheese
6 or so big spoonfuls of natural yogurt
1 large onion - chopped
2 cloves garlic - finely chopped
1 red chilli - finely chopped - seeds left in
2 sprigs of thyme, leaves picked and roughly chopped
olive oil, for frying
500g good quality low fat minced beef
1 teaspoon ground cumin
2 teaspoon sweet paprika
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon of chilli powder
a pinch of crushed dried red chillies
400g can of good quality chopped tomatoes
100ml chicken stock
a good amount of tomato puree - say 2 to 3 tablespoons
1 cinnamon stick
1 bay leaf
400g kidney beans, drained and rinsed
a good splash of balsamic vinegar
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
instructions
Preheat your oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6
In a large frying pan, brown the mince in a teeny bit of oil. In a separate smaller pan, cook the onion, garlic, chilli and thyme in a couple of glugs of oil.
Add the dried spices to the onion mixture and cook until it smells lovely.
Stir in the tomato puree and cook for another minute. Now add the browned beef and give it all a good stir.
Pour in the tin of tomatoes including the juice, and leave to cook down a little for about 5 to 10 minutes.
Pour in the chicken stock and throw in the cinnamon stick and bay leaf in then bring to the boil and then leave to simmer.
Once the sauce is beginning to thicken up nicely add the kidney beans and the balsamic vinegar. Leave to cook for another 5-10 minutes.
Have a taste and add salt and pepper to season, then remove the cinnamon and bay leaf.
Add a quarter of the cooked pasta and give it a stir to coat with the meat sauce.
Tip the lot into a baking dish - mine was about 9x9 inches square.
Top with the rest of the pasta and dollop some natural yoghurt in a few places.
Sprinkle with grated cheddar cheese and loosely cover with kitchen foil. Bake in the oven for about 30 minutes and then remove the foil.
Continue to bake for another 10 minutes of until it is nicely heated though.
This seems like a perfect homey dish to take to a potluck! Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteOh Yum-World! You've combined chilli with pasta and the topping looks perfectly browned.
ReplyDeleteThis looks so tasty, oh how I wish someone would put that in front of me right now! :) Lucie x
ReplyDeleteSo comforting.
ReplyDeleteI like the new profile pix.
Scrumptious! I will vegetarianise it and make it pronto! Thankyou for such mouthwatering inspiration!
ReplyDeleteO and I will put a link on my fb Comfort Food page because it surely belongs there!
Love dishes like this Jan where I can really sink my teeth into it.
ReplyDeleteA lovely dish. I have put a link to it on my fb Comfort Food page.
ReplyDeleteNow I am off to vegetarianise it and make it for myself!
Comfort heaven on a plate! Looks delicious, will definately make very soon!
ReplyDeleteLooks fabulously tasty Jan!! Mmmm, I can taste it now! I see you changed your name!!! Love it!! We won't be far from each other soon. We will have to get together!
ReplyDeleteI just found this site today via a friend. I've added it to my reader and am looking forward to reading your past posts.
ReplyDeleteThis recipe looks gorgeous. I've entered a chili cook-off to be judged this Sunday and I love the idea of fresh thyme in the mix. I was also vacillating between using tomato paste or not. Since you did, I shall too. I hope you don't mind me 'stealing' a few of your tricks!
Debby - I'm so pleased you are going to make this. Seriously use the tomato puree but be sure to cook it a little as the recipe says - before you add the tinned tomatoes. This cooks out the bitterness in it. Also the balsamic does make the dish sweeter.
ReplyDeleteAll the best for Sunday, let me know how you get on!
PS: Not sure which country you are in but I think in the US tomato puree is known as tomato 'paste'?
I can dig right in????This is good grub!!!
ReplyDeleteYUM! Looks great!
ReplyDeleteLooks lovely Jan.
ReplyDelete