15 Minute Meals- Part 5: Chilli con Carne Meatballs

I can admit that I am far behind in my 15 Minute Meals blogging... this is post number five and I have a backlog bringing me up to 15. In any case, what can I say about this beef dish? First of all, no self-boasting from Jamie, which makes me more at ease. The plates are well presented from a glance, but when you actually look at the plates, there is not an abundance of meat on the small plates. I can say (if I haven't already), that this is a good diet book- 437 kcals per plate. This meal is meant for four; it was eaten by the two of us + a mate. But let's break it down:

Ingredients out: 

Bulgar wheat! How exciting! I have not ventured far into the land of grains, and I am excited to give this a try AND within 15-or-so minutes. With the bulgar wheat, one preserved lemon (I used a fresh one) and one cinnamon stick. There are also a good selection of herbs and spices in this dish: garam masala, jarred red peppers, smoked paprika, fresh coriander, cumin seeds. In the Ministry of Food book, combinations such as these have never disappointed. 

Get the flavoured bulgar wheat going and crack on with the mince- salt, pepper, and garam masala. You are instructed to make four meatballs out of 400g of lean minced beef. 100g of meat per person is a suitable portion; however, I decided to adapt this instruction based on the previous 15 Minute Meal cooking and break the meatballs into six... in the future I would break these down even further again. In any case, four minutes in and I am feeling confident.

Paragraph two: get Kenny out to blitz the peppers, spring onions, paprika, passata, half of the coriander, and salt & pepper. Bring the liquid to the boil in a heated frying pan and simmer. If you choose to eat grilled chili peppers, then blacken them under the grill now. 

The third paragraph asks to add the beans and cumin seeds to pan of meatballs... but, doesn't say how long to fry them off for. I chose to warm the beans through until the cumin seeds were aromatic. This might have been a mistake as it brought me a bit close to 15 minutes.

At 12 minutes, I've transferred the meatballs into the sauce and continued to simmer down. Or simmer up... the trouble with this sauce is that although it is tasty, it's jumping all over the place! It's all up the wall, all over the hob, all over the book (hence the splatter in the first picture). I thought about a spatter-guard but I have never been able to aptly control the steam so not to make a sauce too watery. 

As the sauce simmers to the 15 minute mark, I check the meatballs... still pink :( 

Simmer and splatter on, the dish is finished in just under 20 minutes. As you can see, my portion is larger than the four mini-dishes and I've included a side-salad to add some extra colour and fibre. And how did it taste? This was super tasty! One might even call if "fresh" in an urban dictionary sense. Jamie's concoction of eastern flavours and tomato rich dishes wins again. The bulgar wheat was tender, well flavoured, and a great alternative to rice. This dish is kept fresh (not in an urban dictionary sense)- all dressed up with yoghurt, spring onions, and coriander. A "well-wicked" midweek meal!

No Horsing Around Lasagne- Passing it on (again).

In the wake of the "horse meat scandal" gripping Britain and the EU at the moment, I thought I'd re-post (or re-pass it on) a blog from last year. I was kind of hoping that I had posted another recipe rather than Jamie's Lasagne from the Ministry of Food book, but Sod's Law, I had. This time, though... pictures of this real favourite of mine. Slow and steady it takes to cook, but it goes far and is truly delish; especially when using fresh herbs and smoked bacon :) Our mate Rich was in the garden when I was frying off the herbs- he said that the smell was amazing coming out from the extractor fan into the garden! And the best thing about it? most (I was going to put all... but know better) of the ingredients are traceable. The tinned tomatoes are a bit dodge from the local super cheap-o supermarket, but they look, smell, and taste like tomatoes. I know that my local butcher knows where his meat is from and what he's actually mincing, so there's certainly no horsing around with this recipe.

In any case- don't set your timer, but ingredients out:

You make the bolognese yourself: 2 rashers of smoked streaky bacon, 2 medium onions, 2 cloves of garlic, 1 carrot , 2 sticks of celery, olive oil, 2 heaped tsp dried oregano, 500g minced beef, 2x 400g tins of chopped tomatoes, sea salt, black pepper, bunch of fresh basil. I know I can't fool you with the shrooms, green pepper, and spinach- these are little extras that give the bolognese a bit extra rather than carrot, carrot, and celery.

 Oh, and I forgot to mention a magic ingredient in the bolognese... wine! Only 1/2 a can, though... leaves more to drink afterwards.

Make your sauce- this takes time (it says 1 hour and 30 minutes... and actually takes that long, unlike the promises in the 15 Minute Meals), but is entirely worth every minute!

Finely slice the bacon- Peel and finely chop the onions, garlic, carrots and celery- place a large pot/ frying pan/ casserole dish on med to high heat- Add 2 lugs of olive oil, sliced bacon, oregano and cook and stir until the bacon is lightly golden (this is the smell I have been going on and on and on about).

Add the veg to the pan and stir every 30 seconds until softened and coloured (about 7 minutes)

Stir in minced meat and chopped tomatoes- Fill one tin with water and stir in with the mixture- Stir in a good pinch of salt and pepper- Pick the basil leaves off of the stalks, and put them in the fridge for later. Chop the stalks and stir into the pan.

Bring to a boil- Turn the heat down and simmer with a lid slightly askew for 1 hour stirring every now and again- Take off the lid and cook for another 30 minutes, stirring occasionally- Keep an eye on the sauce as it cooks, and if you think it's starting to dry out, ad a splash of water (or wine).... now I shortened this to 45 minutes with the lid and 15 minutes without and it worked fine.

Remove the bolognese from the heat- Tear and stir in the larger basil leaves- Taste the sauce and season with a little more salt and pepper if it needs it. This makes a considerable amount of sauce, so it is good to freeze and use again or just make a monster lasagne!

Preheat your oven to 375F/190C

Next, for the lasagne:

250g dried egg lasagne sheets (I bought the pre-cooked ones that don't need re-cooking), 100g Parmesan cheese, 1x 600mL tub of creme fraiche (or sour cream), 1 large ripe tomato, (3/4 cup wilted spinach- my addition)

Grate your Parmesan and mix it to your creme fraiche.

Spoon a third of your bolognese sauce into the bottom of an earthenware ovenproof dish (approx 25cm x 35 cm)- Follow with a layer of lasagne sheets and another third of sauce. Layer with spinach leaves (sneaky way to get in some more veg!).

Dollop a third of your creme fraiche mix- Sprinkle with a good pinch of salt and pepper and top with another layer of lasagne sheets.

 Only Sgt Pepper will do.

Spoon over the rest of the bolognese sauce and another third of the creme fraiche- Finish with a final layer of lasagne sheets and top with the rest of the creme fraiche- Scatter over some extra Parmesan- Top with some slices of tomato and fresh basil leaves- Cover with foil and bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes- Remove the foil and cook for another 20 minutes until the lasagne is bubbling and golden- Serve with fresh green salad.

Try it out and pass it on!