Chili with a twist

Chili con carne with a mash topping

Ingredients

• This recipe required all the ingredients needed to make a normal chili con-carne. However since its vegetarian, you’ll need a meat-free alternative. I typically use Quorn, but it can sometimes be expensive (morrisons and tesco’s do a good x2 for £3 offer on meat-free vegetarian approved products)
• A little twist I like to do – and my grandmother gave me the recipe after finding out I was vegetarian was to put mashed normal and sweet potato on top. It gives it a really nice flavour and consistency.
• This dish is complimented nicely with different vegetables. I personally like carrots, brocoli and cauliflower.

Instructions

STEP 1:

1. Mash your potatoes to your desired consistency. It’s mentioned above to use a normal and sweet potato, but this is up to you. I like to to use both as it gives it a nice flavour and colour

STEP 2:

STEP 3:

2. Fry your onions and garlic until lightly golden. Add your Quorn mince (or other meat free alternative) until it’s cooked. Try not to crisp it by having the heat on too high, as when its crispy it gives the meal a strange texture

STEP 4:

STEP 5:

3. Add your kidney beans once the other ingredients are cooked nicely. You don’t want to fry the kidney beans for too long, but just enough to make them a little softer

STEP 6:

STEP 7:

4. Boil your normal and sweet potato – depending on your preference. You can mix and match here, see which you like and which you don’t. Once boiled, season with a little salt and pepper, and mash them

STEP 8:

STEP 9:

5. Put the ingredients into a oven-proof dish and allow to simmer for about 20-30 minutes

STEP 10:

STEP 11:

6. Once simmered for this time, take the dish out of the oven and scoop your potatoes into a food bag. Once in the food bag, tie the open end up and cut a small hole in the other end (much like an icing bag, when icing and decorating a cake) and pipe onto the dish evenly

STEP 12:

STEP 13:

7. Place back into the oven for another 10-15 minutes. Cook until the potatoe turns lightly golden and crisp.

STEP 14:

STEP 15:

This is just a brief overview on how to cook it. The times stated are what i’ve found to taste nice based on MY personal liking. I personally don’t like crispy food, so I tend to allow food less time to crisp. However if you do like it crispy, leave the Quorn mince in the frying pan longer and make it crispy. Also, leave the potatoe in longer if you like it more crispy, it’s up to you!