Spicy mincemeat

Everyone has a quick chilli con carne dish in their family recipe book. This one is easy, flavourful and ready to eat in an hour with rice, baked potatoes, in jaffles, tortillas or even with nachos and cheese. Stretch the meal by adding a tin or two of beans.

Serves 6–8, depending on the side dishes Preparation: 45 minutes • Cooking time: 40 minutes

• 30ml olive oil

• 1 red onion, chopped

• 2 carrots, grated

• 2 celery stalks, chopped • 1 green pepper, chopped • 1 red pepper, chopped • 5ml chopped garlic

• 3 large green jalapeños, chopped (with or without the seeds)

• 500g beef mince

• 8 fresh pork bangers with sage, casings removed

• 5ml each ground cumin and coriander

• 10ml smoked paprika

• 1 bunch fresh coriander, stems and leaves separate

• 2 tins (400g each) chopped tomatoes

• 30ml red wine vinegar

1 Heat half of the olive oil in a heavy-bottomed pan and sauté the onion, carrots, celery and sweet pepper until cooked and tender. In the meantime, heat the rest of the oil in a second pan or pot and fry the mince and pork banger meat until golden-brown and cooked; break up any large chunks of meat into smaller pieces with a spatula. Season the meat with the spices, salt and pepper.

2 Add the fried vegetables, garlic and jalapeños to the meat and fry together for another minute or two until fragrant. Chop the coriander stems and stir them, together with the tomatoes, into the mixture in the pan; reduce the heat and simmer for 20 minutes.

3 Stir in the vinegar, check the seasoning once again, and sprinkle the coriander leaves over the top. Serve with tortillas or baked potatoes; or make nachos or jaffles! Sour cream, tomato salsa and guacamole are perfect accompaniments.

Leftover mince? Use it in tortilla samoosas. Here’s how:

1 Cut large, round tortillas in half to form crescent shapes. 2 Spread with a little sour cream, add a spoonful of cooked mince and a heap of grated cheese on one end.

3 Now fold the round edge of the tortilla over, then fold the straight strip criss-cross over the filling to form a triangular parcel, like you do when making samoosas (see diagram).

4 Fry the parcels in oil in a pan or put them in your sandwich press until golden-brown on the outside and hot on the inside.