Chili Mac is an American classic. Its usually geared toward children. But why should the kiddies have all the fun? Here is a grown up version for those of us masquerading as adults… you know who you are (yes, you!).
This happens to be a great make ahead meal and can easily be frozen, then thawed and microwaved for days that you aren’t in a cooking mood. Instant comfort food!
This is based on a recipe on BBC Good Food for Chilli Con Carne
Ingredients:
500g ground beef
1 onion, diced
1 red pepper, diced
1 pound ground beef
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
2 tablespoons of oil
1 teaspoon paprika
1 beef stock cube
1 teaspoon sugar
1 400g can of chopped tomatoes
1 400g can of red kidney beans
1-2 teaspoons of chilli powder (to taste)
1 tablespoon of dried marjoram
2 tablespoons of tomatoe puree
500g elbow macaroni
Fry the onion and red pepper in the oil until it begins to brown. Once coloured, add garlic. Stir for 1-2 minutes, then add ground beef. Crumble beef with the back of the spoon until it is all separate and browned. Next add chilli, paprika, and cumin. Continue to stir for a couple of minutes.
For the sauce, crumble the stock cube in 300mL (half a pint) of hot water. Pour this mixture into the browned meat. Next add your canned tomatoes, tomato puree, marjoram and sugar. Let this simmer gently for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Drain and rinse kidney beans before adding. Cook for an additional 10 minutes. At this point you may either want to reduce your mixture or add water, depending on your desired consistency. Let the chilli stand about 10 minutes before serving to allow the flavours to mingle.
While the chilli is standing, cook elbow macaroni to package instructions. Add the cooked macaroni to the chilli mixture and thoroughly combine.
