Heston Blumenthal's rich chilli con carne with spiced butter recipe
Adding the spiced butter to the chilli just before you serve it will make it rich and unctuous. If you like it a bit hotter, add a little more butter at the table when you add the grated cheese and sour cream. The lime juice and zest will finish it off with acidity and freshness.
Ingredients
For the chilli- 6 tbsp olive oil
- 450 g minced beef (10% fat)
- 1 large onion, diced
- 2 whole star anise
- 3 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
- 1 green chilli, deseeded and diced
- 2 tbsp tomato purée
- 0.5 a bottle red wine (37.5cl)
- 400 g can chopped tomatoes
- 500 ml beef stock
- 400 g can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
- 230 g jar Fragata Pimiento Piquillo peppers, drained and roughly chopped
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1.5 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp chilli powder
- 1.5 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp tomato ketchup
- 0.5 tsp Worcestershire sauce
- 0.5 tsp Marmite
- 125 g butter, softened to room temperature
- 100 g soured cream
- 60 g Cheddar cheese, grated
- 3 limes, grated zest and juice
Details
- Cuisine: English
- Recipe Type: Main
- Difficulty: Easy
- Preparation Time: 20 mins
- Cooking Time: 70 mins
- Serves: 4
Step-by-step
- Start by making the spiced butter. Heat the olive oil in a frying pan and lightly fry the cumin and chilli powder for approximately 1½ minutes. Pour into a bowl and add the rest of the spiced butter ingredients; mix together and once cool, place in the fridge until needed.
- Add 3 tbsp olive oil to a large sauce pan and heat over a high heat until smoking hot. Add the mince, in batches if necessary, and cook until evenly browned. Remove and drain the meat. Add a little water to the same pan to deglaze it and tip the water and bits in with the drained meat so none of the flavour is lost.
- Turn the heat down to medium and add the remaining olive oil. Add the onions and star anise and cook until the onions begin to colour, then add the garlic and green chilli and cook for another 5 minutes.
- Add the tomato purée, stir and cook for another 5 minutes until everything turns a brick red colour. Add the browned mince and juices, pour in the red wine and allow to reduce by two-thirds. Add the tomatoes and stock and simmer over a low heat for at least 1 hour or until it has reduced to a thick sauce consistency.
- Fold the beans and chopped red peppers into the chilli and simmer until they are heated through. Stir in 2½ tbsp of the spiced butter for mild-medium heat (or more if you like it hotter). Remove the star anise. Season with salt and freshly cracked black pepper and serve with rice.
Recipe courtesy of Heston Blumenthal for Waitrose.com
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