It’s great to buy chuck steak for this recipe because you know exactly what quality of meat you're buying. Then simply cut it into pieces and pulse in a food processor until it resembles minced beef. I normally make double the amount of chilli needed so that I can divide the extra into sandwich bags, knotted at the top, for freezing. These bags can then be boiled for 15 minutes when needed.
Ingredients:-
- 2 medium onions
- 1 clove garlic (I used 2)
- olive oil
- 10g/2tsp chilli powder (I used ½ but not very hot! Use more next time.)
- 1 fresh red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
- 5g/1tsp ground cumin (or crushed cumin seeds)
- sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 455g/1lb chuck steak, minced or best minced beef
- 200g/7oz sun-dried tomatoes in olive oil (I used ½ tin puree and mixed with oil)
- 2 x 400g/14oz tins chopped tomatoes
- ½ stick cinnamon (I didn’t use this)
- 2 x 400g/14oz tins red kidney beans, drained (I only had one)
Method:-
- To cook this I use a metal pan or casserole with a lid, which you can use on the hob and in the oven. If you are going to use the oven method then preheat the oven to 150C/ 300F/Gas 2.
- Blitz the onions and garlic in the food processor until finely chopped, then fry in a little olive oil until softened.
- Add the chilli powder, fresh chilli, cumin and a little seasoning.
- Then add the minced chuck steak or beef and continue to cook, stirring, until it has browned.
- Blitz the sun-dried tomatoes in the food processor with enough oil from the jar to loosen into a paste.
- Add these to the beef with the tomatoes, cinnamon stick and a wineglass of water.
- Season a little more if need be.
- Bring to the boil, cover with greaseproof paper and the lid, then either turn the heat down to a simmer and cook for 1½ hours or transfer the pan to the oven for about 1½ hours.
- Add the tinned kidney beans 30 minutes before the end of the cooking time - they are already cooked and only need warming up.
Note:-
This always tastes better if you cook it the day before (to give the flavours time to develop), so it’s really handy if you’ve got friends coming round and don’t want to be stuck in the kitchen. Just take it out of the fridge and warm it up - serve with lots of fresh crusty bread, a nice tossed salad, and a big blob of natural yoghurt or guacamole.
By Jamie Oliver from The Naked Chef
