A savoury mince variation with sweet peppers and baby aubergines

Here’s another winter warmer for a quick and easy family supper. There’s a fair deal of garlic in it, and I also used chillies, so adapt it if the kids are going to tuck in too.

The sentiment expressed above does not necessarily apply to all families, obviously. My grandkids, for example, have been brought up to include garlic in their savoury diet, although obviously we go carefully with chilli and too heavy a hand with spices. But garlic is fair game and the sooner we develop a taste for it the better.

That’s my view and my grandchildren’s parents are of a mind about this. But we’re all different and families will make up their own minds about it. What does get my blood boiling is hearing parents give in to their children’s refusal to do two things: eat vegetables, and not trying anything they haven’t tried before.

The kids, of course, don’t know any better, but it’s parents giving in to it that has me reaching for the sal volatile. How are their palates supposed to develop if they only ever eat chicken nuggets and chips? (I’d add one proviso: find chicken nuggets that are made of actual chicken, and that don’t include processed skin and connective tissue. As poorer versions do.) Surely our kids are worth us paying more for a better product?

Okay, that random diversion is over. But I wouldn’t want to subject tiny, tender palates to the chillies in hot dishes, and they’re even optional for their parents in this case – this isn’t a curry, so feel free to exclude them.

As it is, or was last night, the pair of bird’s eye chillies I added did not make for a blast of hot chilli; everything was rather mild.

So what’s in the pot? This savoury mince is quick and easy. Start with an onion, add garlic, then add chopped sweet peppers (I used one red, one yellow and one orange, to make the end result pleasing to the eye), and baby brinjals. They’re also called pimento or paprika peppers.

I had considered cooking the peppers and aubergines separately and either serving them alongside or stirring them into the cooked mince at the end. But I decided that the flavour would be stronger and more vivid if they were in the pot right from the start.

I added no spices at all, unless you count the garlic and chilli, but did include fresh oregano picked from the garden. I did add a glass of dry white wine, which cooks away completely. Parents may choose to leave this out.

Sometimes I like the simple flavours of real ingredients to merge to create a combined flavour profile that has a kind of honesty about it. This dish is real.

Tony’s savoury mince with sweet peppers and baby aubergines

(Serves 2, with rice and possibly seconds)

Ingredients

200g ground beef (mince), but use more if you’re feeding more people

Olive oil, as needed

1 large onion, peeled and chopped

4 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped

1 red pimento/paprika pepper, chopped

1 orange pimento/paprika pepper, chopped

1 yellow pimento/paprika pepper, chopped

4 baby aubergines, trimmed and sliced into batons

2 bird’s eye red chillies, chopped (optional)

A glass of dry white wine (200ml)

3 Tbsp fresh oregano leaves

Oregano sprigs for garnishing

Rice or polenta, for serving

Salt and black pepper to taste

Method

Peel and chop the onion and garlic. Trim the peppers, discarding the root ends and seeds, and slice them into thin strips. Then chop the strips in half to shorten them. Slice the ends off the chillies and chop them up, seeds and all.

Trim the root ends off the baby aubergines, and slice them into slim batons.

Heat a little oil in a pot deep enough for the whole dish, and add the onion. Cook on a low heat, stirring, for 2 or 3 minutes, then add the garlic and cook for another minute, stirring.

Add the peppers and aubergine batons, stir and simmer for 3 to 5 minutes, stirring now and then. Add the chopped chillies, if using.

Add the beef mince, and work it with a wooden spoon or spatula to break it up and prevent it from forming clumps.

Stir everything together, and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring now and then. Season with salt and black pepper to taste.

Add the white wine, stir, and return the pot to a simmer. Cook gently for about 40 minutes, stirring now and then to prevent it from catching at the bottom of the pot.

I accompanied this with a product I’d never tried before, a brand of precooked, flavoured rice called Tilda. The vacuum pack contained basmati rice cooked with lime and coriander leaves, and I was pleasantly surprised at how pleasant it was to eat, and how well it went with this savoury mince.

I bought and paid for the rice by the way, it was not a promotional gift. I never – normally – buy pre-made items such as this, but it made for a nifty hack, given how little time I had to prepare supper – and that I served it later than planned anyway. DM

To buy a copy of Tony Jackman’s Retro Karoo Food (Penguin Random House) signed by the author in gold, send an email to him at tony@dailymaverick.co.za
Or buy it through the Daily Maverick shop.

Tony Jackman is twice winner of the Galliova Food Writer of the Year award.

Follow Tony Jackman on Instagram @tony_jackman_cooks.