Cheesy Chili

I realize this is not necessarily the most appetizing picture of chili. I can admit that it looks more like a soup than a chili, and there's not actually any chili in the recipe, so it's possibly not really a chili. And you could be asking yourself what the stringy white bits are, answer: melted cheese.


All this aside, would I post a recipe that I didn't think was good? Would I post a recipe that I wouldn't encourage anyone to make? Probably not. So keep an open mind, and check the recipe out, because it's quite good. After all, it came from the Domestic Goddess herself, Nigella Lawson.
Nigella's Cheesy Chili
recipe from Kitchen

Ingredients:
110g chorizo, cut into fat coins and halved (roughly 2 links)
500g beef mince (I used one package, roughly a pound)
1/2 teaspoon cocoa powder
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 x 15ml tablespoon tomato paste
1 x 400g can chopped tomatoes
125ml water, swilled from empty tomato can
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1 X 400g can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
2 X 125g fresh mozzarella cheese balls, chopped
handful chopped fresh coriander, to serve (I skipped this, fresh coriander is cilantro and we all know how I feel about that)

Directions:
1) Put a cast-iron casserole or heavy-based pan (needs to have a lid) on the stove and heat over medium high, add the chorizo and cook it until an orange oil is released.
2) Add the mince, breaking it up with a wooden spoon. When the meat begins to lose its raw colour, sprinkle with cocoa and oregano, dollop in the puree and give a good stir before adding the canned tomatoes. Swill the empty can with 125ml water, and empty that into the pan, followed by the Worcestershire sauce and kidney beans, then let it come to the boil.
3) Turn the heat down, put the lid on, and simmer for 20 minutes.
4) Remove the lid, and let it come to the boil again, then turn off the heat and stir in the mozzarella. Stir and serve immediately.

What I loved: The chili was simple to make, and took roughly thirty five minutes from beginning to end, which is great on a week night.

What I didn't love: The chili wasn't that spicy, it was flavourful, but I would expect more spice from a chili. The stringy cheese, though delicious, looked a little weird (fine for family, maybe not for guests). The chili was also a little more soup-like than what I would expect.

Overall: I would add hot sauce, or chili powder or cayenne pepper to give it some heat. That's just my personal taste though, this would be a really nice recipe for a family who has some members that don't like heat and can eat as is, and some members who can just add their own heat to taste. I wouldn't add the water next time to keep it from getting too watery. This really was a great dish though, it would make a fantastic meal with a salad and some fresh bread.