Food for Life shares bean & lentil chilli recipe for caterers

Ingredients (allergens in bold):

• 150g haricot beans, soaked in boiling water for one hour, drained
• 150g whole green or brown lentils, soaked for 30 minutes, drained
• Two tbsp olive oil for cooking
• One large onion, peeled and chopped
• Two gloves of garlic, peeled and crushed
• One fresh green or red chilli, de-seeded and finely chopped
• Three carrots, scrubbed and finely diced
• Two sticks of celery, washed and finely diced
• 400g of canned tomatoes
• One tbsp tomato puree
• Half to one tbsp of chilli powder or hot smoked paprika
• One tsp chilli powder or hot smoked paprika
• One tsp ground cumin
• One bay leaf
• One vegetable stock cube, made up with 600ml boiling water
• One red or green pepper, plus additional seasonal vegetables

Method:

• Place the beans, in their soaking water, in a large pan and boil for 30 minutes. Drain and discard the water.
• Heat the oil in a large pan and gently fry the onion, garlic, carrot, celery and chilli for five minutes. Don’t let it brown.
• Add the canned tomatoes, tomato puree, the drained beans and lentils, spices, bay leaf and vegetable stock and bring to the boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes.
• Add the chipped peppers and seasonal vegetables and continue to simmer for another 30 minutes or until everything is tender.
• Taste and season with salt and pepper.