AirFryday: Cheesy chilli con carne, the air fryer edition

Think of your air fryer as a grill, something you use for one or more parts of whatever you’re cooking for supper. It can come into play first, in the middle of a cook, or only right at the end.

This week I fancied chilli con carne, and I also felt like something cheesy. So I melded the two ideas together. Cheese does belong in chilli con carne anyway, but I took it a big step further by topping the cooked chilli with masses of grated cheese and putting it in the air fryer on the bake setting, and later on the grill setting. It worked a treat.

The intensity of the heat from the element above was such that the cheese truly melted into the top part of the meaty chilli below it, while also attaining something of a pleasing crust right at the top. You have the choice of taking the pot out of the air fryer sooner if you want to have the cheese more melty.

There was another delightful aspect to this particular cook. We’ve had blue Liebermann plateware and bakewares since 1983, and they’re a valued element of our home and our lives. The one in the photograph found its way into the air fryer this week, a delicious marriage of old and new. So, yes, you can use that forgotten old pot in your air fryer.

For the cheese, I used Dalewood’s Huguenot cheese, which is sold grated as well as in wedges, and is their “everyday” cheese.

Tony’s cheesy chilli con carne

(Serves 4)

Ingredients

2 Tbsp olive oil 

2 medium onions, chopped 

4 garlic cloves, crushed and chopped

1 green bell pepper, chopped 

700 g lean beef mince

½ cup beef stock

½ cup dry red wine 

1 x 400 g can chopped tomatoes

100 g tomato paste

2  red chillies, finely chopped

1  tsp smoked paprika 

1 tsp cayenne pepper

1 tsp ground cumin

2 Tbsp fresh coriander leaves, chopped

2 Tbsp fresh oregano leaves

2 Tbsp fresh parsley, chopped

1 tsp ground black pepper 

Salt to taste

1 x 400 g can red kidney beans, drained 

2 Tbsp cornflour dissolved in 2 Tbsp cold water

2 to 3 cups grated Dalewood Fromage Huguenot cheese, or Cheddar

Method

Sauté the onions and green bell pepper in a little olive oil until softened. Add the garlic and beef mince and work it into the sauce with a wooden spoon to ensure that the mince does not clump. Cook gently for 10 minutes, stirring.

Add the wine, beef stock, chopped tomatoes and tomato paste, stir, then add the spices and herbs. Season with salt and pepper, cover, and simmer for about an hour and a half on the lowest possible heat. Stir occasionally to prevent it sticking.

Add the drained red kidney beans and stir.

Leave the chilli to cool and excess fat to rise to the top, then spoon it off.

Heat the pot again. Dissolve the cornflour in cold water and stir into the chilli, simmering and stirring for about 5 minutes while it thickens.

Taste and adjust seasoning if needed.

Stir in 1 cup of the cheese until it has melted through.

Grease a sturdy dish that fits into your air fryer (a small air fryer most likely will not be suitable for this, mine is 5.7 litres). 

Spoon the chilli into the dish, and cover generously with grated cheese.

Bake in the air fryer at 200℃ until the cheese topping is pure golden delight. There’s no point in timing this – it’s ready when it looks right, because everything below the cheese has already been cooked. DM

Tony Jackman is Galliova Food Writer 2023, jointly with TGIFood columnist Anna Trapido. Order his book, foodSTUFF, here

Follow Tony Jackman on Instagram @tony_jackman_cooks.

This dish is photographed on a plate by Mervyn Gers Ceramics.