Festive RecipesDeliciously Ella's Five bean chilli with corn bread

This warming Winter dish is one of Deliciously Ella’s most requested. “The chilli is really hearty and I love the texture combination of the beans in the chilli and the crispy crust of the golden corn bread”.

Ingredients

The corn bread (serves 10)

750g drained tinned sweetcorn (3–4 tins depending on size)
450ml almond milk
150ml sunflower, rapeseed or vegetable oil
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
25g coriander, chopped
1 x 400g tin of black beans, drained and rinsed
2 red chillies, deseeded and finely chopped
1 tablespoon sea salt flakes
pinch of pepper
60g plain flour (we use a gluten-free one)
30g rice flour
400g polenta
1 tablespoon corn flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons bicarbonate of soda

The chilli (serves 4)

olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 celery stalk, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 red chilli, deseeded and chopped
1 teaspoon dried rosemary
1 teaspoon dried thyme
3 tablespoons tomato pureé
2 x 400g tins of mixed beans
1 x 400g tin of tomatoes
1 tablespoon maple syrup

to serve

2 red chillies, sliced
handful of sliced spring onions

Method

Start by making the corn bread.

Preheat the oven to 200.C (fan 180.C). Line a deep 35 x 25cm baking tin with baking parchment. Place three quarters of the sweetcorn in a food processor and pulse until smooth. Once smooth, mix together with the rest of the whole sweetcorn kernels.

Place all the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl and stir well. Once mixed, add the almond milk, oil and apple cider vinegar and give everything another really good stir until well combined. Next, add the coriander, black beans, chilli, salt, pepper and sweetcorn, giving it all one final mix.

Once the mixture has come together, pour into the lined baking tin and bake in the oven for 50–55 minutes until golden and cooked through. To test if it is cooked, insert a knife into the corn bread, it should come out clean. If not, place back in the oven for 5 more minutes to cook through.

While the corn bread is baking, prepare the chilli. Place a large saucepan over a medium heat and add a drizzle of olive oil, the onion, celery, garlic and a pinch of salt and cook until soft, about 5–10 minutes.

Now add the chilli, rosemary, thyme and tomato pureé and cook for another 5 minutes. Add the beans, tomatoes, 150ml water, maple syrup and some pepper and bring to the boil, then lower the heat and leave to simmer for 25–30 minutes, at which point it should have a thick consistency.

When you are ready to serve sprinkle the chillies and spring onion over the top and enjoy with the corn bread.

Tips

The corn bread is best eaten fresh, especially when it’s warm out the oven, but the chilli tastes even better the next day, so keep any extras in the fridge to take to work as a packed lunch or pop it in the freezer if you want it to last longer. If you do have leftovers of the corn bread, however, you can store it in an airtight container and enjoy it the next day.

For the mixed beans, we buy tins made up of red kidney beans, black-eyed beans, borlotti beans, lima beans and pea navy beans, but there are different kinds available so just use what you like.