by admin 19/09/2019

The Best EVER Vegetarian Chilli

At Hog Roast Hire Manchester we get asked all the time to provide vegetarian meals to serve alongside our hog roasts.

Some of our most popular dishes are a meat free Lasagne, home made quiches & ratatouille. Our favourite though has to be the Chilli especially when the season changes and the nights start drawing in. A bowl of vegetarian chilli with crusty bread rolls is extremely satisfying for the non-meat eaters.

We pay great attention to the vegetarian meals and have perfected what we think is the best EVER vegetarian chilli !

Below is the ingredient list and cooking method used to perfect our chilli non carne!

INGREDIENTS

Serves 4

• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 medium red onion, chopped
• 1 large white onion
• 1 large red pepper, chopped
• 1 medium carrot, finely chopped
• Fresh red chillis
• 100 grammes of dried red lentils
• 1 piece of celery, finely chopped
• ½ teaspoon salt, divided
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoons chili powder
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 ½ teaspoons paprika (not smoked)
• 1 large tin chopped tomatoes, with their juices
• 1 tin of red kidney beans, drained
• 1 large tin of baked beans, with juices
• 300ml of vegetable stock
• 300ml of water
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh coriander
• 2 teaspoons lime juice, to taste
• Garnishes: chopped coriander, sliced avocado, tortilla chips, sour cream or crème fraîche, grated cheddar cheese, etc.

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Finely chop the red onion, celery, carrot and garlic. We like to chop these as fine as possible. Cut the white onion into larger chunks/slices & slice the red chillis
2. In a casserole dish or heavy-bottomed pan over medium heat, warm the olive oil until shimmering. Add the finely chopped red onion, red pepper, carrot, celery and ¼ teaspoon of the salt. Stir to combine and cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are tender and the onion is translucent, about 7 to 10 minutes.
3. Add the garlic, chilli powder, cumin, paprika and red chillis. Cook until fragrant while stirring constantly, about 1 minute.
4. Add the chopped tomatoes and their juices, vegetable stock, red lentils, water, baked beans, red kidney beans and bay leaf. Stir to combine and let the mixture come to a simmer. Continue cooking, stirring occasionally and reducing heat as necessary to maintain a very gentle simmer. The lentils will soak up the juices, it’s important to make sure the mixture has enough liquid though the next 30 minutes to ensure the lentils cook through, keep stirring to ensure they do not stick to the bottom of the pan. Keep topping up with more water if required. After 30 minutes, remove the chili from the heat.
5. For the best texture and flavour, transfer one third of the chilli to a blender, making sure to get some of the liquid portion. Securely fasten the lid and blend until smooth (watch out for hot steam), then pour the blended mixture back into the pan. This step is very important and we do recommend you doing it.
6. Add the chopped coriander, stir to blend. Add salt to taste, I added ¼ teaspoon more at this point. Divide the mixture into individual bowls and serve with garnishes of your choice. This chilli will keep well in the refrigerator for about 4 days or you can freeze it for longer-term storage. We hope you enjoy the best ever vegetarian chilli !

NOTES

In our blog we will be posting more vegetarian dishes we use to compliment our main menus, which can be seen here

MAKE IT VEGAN/DAIRY FREE: This chili recipe is vegan as written. Just be sure to choose vegan/dairy free toppings, such as avocado and tortilla chips.