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COLUMN: Ilse Cooks the Books (Baked Beef and Bean Burritos)

───   15:30 Mon, 25 Jun 2018

COLUMN: Ilse Cooks the Books (Baked Beef and Bean Burritos) | News Article

Everyone has a few pantry or fridge staples in their kitchen. What’s yours? Those trusty standby’s that you always have?


In the fridge, I always have carrots, milk and cheese.  In the pantry, I always have baked beans, tinned tuna and wraps, or rather tortillas served as wraps.  I love wraps, mostly because I love food that I can eat with my hands! 

At our house, wraps are usually Saturday afternoon’s lunch.  Stuffed with lettuce, cheese, some sliced red onion, mayo, guacamole (if I’ve got an avocado lying around) and grilled halloumi or shredded roast chicken, it’s just the fuel you need to prepare for a mammoth session of watching sport from the comfort of your couch! 

However, wraps have never graduated to dinner in our house.  It just seems so … lunch-y to me.   In our house, dinner is the main meal of the day and it should be warm and comforting.  Like a big hug as you settle down for the night.  In winter especially, you want some rib-sticking food and I’m afraid a bit of lettuce and chicken wrapped in a thin circle of dough is not going to cut it.

How can tortillas do dinner duty then? Yes, you’re right! Lose the lettuce, put them in a baking dish, dress them in a yummy tomato sauce, sprinkle over some cheese, into the oven and voila! Serve them as burritos.

One of my favourite foodie magazines, Woolworths’ Taste magazine, has recently published a cookbook of all their most popular recipes, called Make It Easy.  I found this beauty in the Autumn section. 


MAKE IT EASY – BAKED BEEF AND BEAN BURRITOS

Serves 4

For the tomato sauce:

1 x 400 g can chopped Italian tomatoes

½ cup beef stock

1 chopped fresh chilli or ½ teaspoon chilli flakes

Sea salt, to taste

For the filling:

500 g extra-lean beef mince

1 x 400 g can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed (I’m not a fan of kidney beans, so I used cannellini beans instead)

1 onion, finely chopped

3 cloves of garlic, crushed

1 x 400 g can of chopped Italian tomatoes

1 cup of beef stock

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 teaspoon ground coriander

½ teaspoon chilli flakes

1 teaspoon oregano

1 teaspoon sea salt

For serving:

4 white flour tortilla wraps

80 g feta cheese, crumbled (or about 2 wheels of feta)

100 g grated mozzarella cheese

Coriander and lettuce for serving (optional)

To make the spicy tomato sauce, simmer all the ingredients, uncovered for 15 minutes then blend until smooth (or not – you decide!).

For the filling, cook the onions for a few minutes until slightly softened, add the rest of the ingredients and simmer covered for 20 to 25 minutes.  Uncover and simmer for another 15 minutes, or until reduced and thick.

Preheat the oven to 200?C.  Fill the tortillas with the mince mixture.  Roll up and place in a buttered or oiled baking dish.  Spoon over the spicy tomato sauce and any leftover mince that didn’t make it into the tortillas.  Sprinkle with the cheeses.  Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until the cheeses melt.  Sprinkle with coriander and shredded lettuce before serving.

Follow me on Twitter (ilse123) or on Facebook (https://web.facebook.com/IlseCooksTheBooks/) to chat about food and more!

ooOoo


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