Emily Leary
Serves: 4
Prep time: 10 mins
Cook time: 25 mins
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon olive oil, plus extra for greasing
20g (3/4 oz) slightly salted butter
500g (1lb 2oz) lean beef mince (or veggie mince)
1 onion, finely chopped
1/2 red chilli, deseeded and very finely sliced
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon chilli powder
400g (14oz) can of chopped tomatoes
400g (14oz) can of red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
150ml (5oz) beef stock (ideally reduced-salt)
4–6 green peppers (depending on size)
150g (5 ½ oz) mature Cheddar cheese, grated
To serve:
100g (3 ½ oz) creme fraiche
30g (1oz) coriander leaves, roughly torn
Veg Portions / Serving: 2
Recipe from Get Your Kids to Eat Anything by Emily Leary. Photography by Tom Regester | tomregester.com
Chilli con carne is quick, filling and nutritious, and this version shakes up how you serve it – spooned into peppers, topped with cheese and roasted.
Method:
Place the olive oil and butter in a frying pan over a medium heat. Add the minced meat or veggie mince, onion and sliced chilli and fry for 5 minutes, breaking up any lumps – the butter will help the mince to brown.
Add the garlic, cumin and chilli powder and fry for 2–3 minutes, then add the tomatoes, beans and stock and cook gently for 10 minutes until a gravy starts to form. Season to taste.
Preheat the oven to 200ºC (400ºF), 180ºC fan, Gas Mark 6. Grease a baking tray with the extra oil. Slice the top off the peppers and scoop out the seeds, aiming to keep the flesh otherwise intact. Place them on the baking tray; I find it works best to use a small tray so that you can pack the peppers in to help them stay upright.
Spoon the chilli into the peppers until it is almost spilling over the sides. Sprinkle the cheese on top and roast in the oven for 15 minutes until the peppers start to brown and the cheese bubbles.
Serve with a dollop of creme fraiche and a scattering of coriander.
Tip: Peppers make a wonderful “bowl” for all sorts of dishes. Use them in place of pastry for a different individual quiche, roast them filled with your favourite pasta bake, or pile high with chickpea salad for a packed lunch.
Engaging Kids
Kids who engage regularly with veg through veg-themed activities, such as arts and crafts, sensory experiences, growing and cooking are shown to be more likely to eat the veg they engage with. Encouraging kids to engage and play with veg is the handy first step to them developing a good relationship with veg and life-long healthy eating.
Kids in the kitchen
Put the kids in charge of the halved peppers – help them scoop out the seeds carefully with a spoon, and let them place them on the baking trays and gently spoon the chilli filling into them. Give them the grated cheese to sprinkle over, and let them plate up the dinner with creme fraiche and coriander.
Find more ideas, safety tips, videos and even a free chart in our Kids in the Kitchen section here.
Activities
Why not try making a pepper face mask a cut-out and colour pepper, or veg crown?
Or grab some of our free games & puzzles with peppers like our Shaun the Sheep – Amazing Pepper Chase (or our other Shaun-themed pepper activities), our Chop Chop pepper game or our Spot the pepper game?
Find loads more free pepper-themed crafts here and games here.
Sensory
Grab a couple of different coloured peppers and explore what they look like together – what do they remind you of? Encourage imagination, allowing them to explore with their senses, perhaps shaking, tearing, or sniffing it. Try cutting one lengthways and see what they think it looks like now – do they see a scary face or something else? Let them be curious and come up with mad ideas to keep it fun!
Watch our video from Ruth Platt for a visual guide to exploring peppers with your senses here. Find more sensory ideas, tips and videos here. If you get stuck and need a little help with describing words, we have a selection for you here, too!
Serving
Let your kids help with any extra toppings, and perhaps they could design a fun menu describing the stuffed peppers with their own funny names and descriptions or drawings.
Find the best ways of involving your own child and their skills and interests on our Roles for Kids page.
Emily Leary
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