Bean and Pepper Chilli

We've been eating pretty badly recently, as I've been working on loads of job applications (soo time consuming) and, as a result, I have a fridge full of good stuff to use up.

So, in the mood for something spicy I concocted this chilli (chili) recipe last night. It was good, although it could have done with more heat for my tastes. We ate it with baked potatoes and some soured cream that was left from the weekend.

There's plenty left today, so I'd say this recipe serves at least 4 people.

Mrs Roe's Pepper & Bean Chilli

Ingredients

1 tsbp sunflower oil

1 large onion, chopped

1 tsp sweet smoked paprika

1 tsp chilli powder

1 large red pepper (capsicum), chopped

1 large yellow pepper (capsicum), chopped

50g red lentils

1 can chopped tomatoes

2 tsp soft dark brown sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1 can kidney beans in water (drained and rinsed)

1 can chick peas in water (drained and rinsed)

100g closed cap mushrooms, chopped

3 pieces sun-dried tomato, drained thoroughly and chopped

Method

1. Heat the oil in a large pan (it needs to be a pan with a lid), then add the onions and fry gently for about 15 minutes. You need to get them really soft and they'll start to turn golden in colour. Keep the heat low to stop them burning.
2. Add the smoked paprika and chilli powder and cook for a minute or so, stirring constantly.
3. Add the red & yellow pepper and the red lentils. Mix everything together so the oniony mixture combines with the lentils, then turn up the heat and add about 125ml hot water. Stir and let the mixture come up to the boil.
4. Next, add the remaining ingredients and bring to the boil. Turn down the heat and put the lid on the pan. Simmer for about 25 minutes, or until the peppers are tender.
5. Serve with baked potatoes, rice or tortillas, topped with a blob of soured cream or a little grated cheese.

• The lentils help to thicken the dish slightly so you don't get a watery consistency. You could use rice, cous cous or other grains instead, but I'm not sure whether the results would be exactly the same... 
• I used kidney beans and chick peas as this was what I had in the cupboard. You could use any combination of beans you like, but they need to be in water, not sauce. Canned sweetcorn would also be a good addition.
• If you don't have smoked paprika, just omit it from the recipe.
• I would definitely add more chilli powder next time, but adjust the amount to suit your own tastes.
• Feel free to throw in any combination of veg. Even frozen mixed veg would do at a push.

Villetta Pasticcio (or Bolognese Cottage Pie)

We had a LOT of Bolognese sauce left after last night - I reckon we only used about a third of it - so I needed to think of something to use it for today. I decided to do some mashed potato and make a cottage pie. Easy, tasty and perfect for the miserable weather we're having.

Ready to eat!

Mrs Roe's Villetta Pasticcio

Ingredients

1/3 Bolognese sauce (see recipe here)

4 large potatoes, peeled and cubed

1 dsp olive spread or butter

Salt & pepper

50g cheese, grated

Method

1. Spoon the Bolognese sauce into a shallow, heatproof bowl. Preheat the oven to 200C.
2. Boil the potatoes until done, then mash with the spread until smooth. Season with salt and pepper and spread over the surface of the Bolognese sauce. Don't smooth it out - you need spikes and bumps so it'll crisp up nicely.
3. Sprinkle the grated cheese over the top, then place in the oven and bake for about 40 minutes.

I used a good, mature Red Leicester cheese for the topping. You need something strong that melts well, so cheddar would work perfectly.

If you wanted to up your veg intake, you could add some thawed peas to the Bolognese.

Crock Pot Bolognese Sauce

I've been fancying spaghetti bolognese for a while now, so I thought I'd try making the Bolognese sauce in the Crock Pot. One word can sum it up... Success!

This is my own recipe, give it a go and see what you think. I'd love to hear how you get on. It made A LOT of sauce - two generous portions for tea with wholewheat spaghetti, enough for tomorrow's experiment and a cereal bowl full to the brim (will have to think about what to do with that bit). I'd say that you could get maybe seven or eight portions of spaghetti out of it easily.

After about seven hours, lovely rich
and tasty Bolognese sauce.

Mrs Roe's Crock Pot (Slow Cooker) Bolognese Sauce

Ingredients
1 tbsp sunflower oil
1 large onion, peeled and chopped
2 large carrots, peeled, quartered lengthways and chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
3 rashers back bacon (smoked, unsmoked... whatever), chopped
500g lean minced beef steak
Beef stock cube
1 dsp oregano
200g mushrooms, chopped
2 tins chopped tomatoes
2 tbsp tomato puree
Ground black pepper

Method

1. Add the sunflower oil to a frying pan and heat for a bit, then add the onion and fry until beginning to soften. Add the carrots and continue to fry until the onions are starting to colour slightly. Stir in the garlic, then remove from the heat and scrape the mixture into your Crock Pot bowl.
2. Return the frying pan to the heat and add the bacon. Fry until the fat has browned, then add to the veg in the Crock Pot.
3. Now, brown off the mince in the frying pan before adding it to the Crock Pot.
4. Crumble over the stock cube, add the oregano, mushrooms, tomatoes, tomato puree and black pepper. Stir thoroughly to combine.
5. Cook in the Crock Pot on low for 7-8 hours, then turn the dial to the 'keep warm' setting if your Crock Pot has one.
6. Cook some pasta (spaghetti is traditional, obviously), divide between bowls and top with the sauce to serve.

You'll note that, apart from the tomatoes, I didn't add any liquid. It really didn't need anything and the sauce was a lovely, thick and rich consistency.

You could easily add other veg if you wanted to make it go even further - I would have used celery if I'd had any in the fridge.

It could have been improved with some Parmesan over the top of it and maybe some garlic baguette for juice mopping, but it copes perfectly well without these.