Lentil and chickpea chilli is the perfect winter warmer for a meal in with friends or family and also surprisingly simple to throw together.
Back when I first turned vegetarian – and long before I discovered this vegan chilli recipe – I very nearly had a “moment of weakness” and ate the chilli my meat-eating parents had made for themselves. Luckily I resisted – or more accurately, they insisted it was too late as they’d already put a veggie burger on for me. Not something I’m particularly proud of, but in my defence I was only 9! Up until recently, friends eating chilli was always guaranteed to induce serious “food-envy” on my part. However, I don’t need to feel jealous anymore, as this vegetarian chilli comes pretty damn close to real thing.
Ingredients:
1 1/2 onions
4 cloves garlic
2 red chillis (a hot pepper, for my dear US-based readers)
2 tablespoons of chilli powder
2 tablespoons of ground cumin
2 tablespoons of oregano
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
1 carton of pasata (or 1 can of tinned tomatoes)
2 tablespoons tomato purée
1 can of lentils
1 can of kidney beans
500ml vegetable stock
salt and pepper to taste
Pro tip: boost your veggie count by throwing in some carrots, courgettes (zucchini) and mushrooms then garnish with coriander (cilantro).
Method:
1. Fry the onions, garlic and chillis in some oil.
2. Add in the chilli powder, herbs and cinnamon then allow to fry for another couple of minutes, so that the flavours infuse.
3. Pour in the pasata then stir in the tomato purée.
4. Strain the lentils and kidney beans into a sieve then throw them into the chilli.
5. Boil 50ml of water then crumble in a stock cube.
6. Add the stock mixture to the chilli and leave to simmer, stirring occasionally, until the excess water has evaporated and correct consistency has been achieved.
7. Season to taste and serve with rice and garlic or naan bread.
Bonus: the left-overs taste amazing the next day over a jacket potato!
Chilli, cheddar cheese and chopped parsley over a freshly baked jacket potato.
Adapted from Keryann’s chilli con veggie on the Jamie Oliver website.
easy and veggie 