Healthy Biltong Recipes by Gary O’Hanlon
#04 – Biltong Chilli Stuffed Baked Potato
What Gary says about this dish …
“Of all the things I’ve cooked for my wife and in-laws over the past few years this is the one dish that they continue to rave about. It’s ideal for both lunch and dinner. The key thing though is to let the chilli cook slowly and reduce over the course of an hour, at least. It works out perfectly though as that’s the general cooking time for the potato so have all your preparation done and as soon as you pop the potato into the oven, get to work on your chilli. Top with a cheese of choice. I generally go for a lovely aged parmesan or a cheddar.“
Ingredients
large baker potatoes
Sea salt to taste
Drizzle of olive oil
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 onion, chopped fine
¼ red pepper, diced
¼ green pepper, diced
¼ yellow pepper, diced
¼ fresh red chilli, finely diced
3g fresh thyme, chopped fine
½ tsp red chilli flakes
50ml white wine (optional)
2 x 400g tins of chopped tomato
1 tbspn tomato puree
100g sweetcorn
½ small courgette, diced
75g original Irish Biltong or Chilli Biltong
Salt and pepper to taste
70g grated parmesan or grated cheddar
Method
Pre-heat your oven to 180C. Wash the baker potatoes and when they are still wet sprinkle all over with fine sea salt. This helps the salt stick and as the potato bakes it helps give a lovely crisp crust. Set the timer to 60 minutes and place the bakers in the oven. Heat a pot and add in a generous splash of olive oil. Now place in the garlic and the onion and sweat without colour. Once they are soft add in the peppers and chilli and sweat for four minutes.
Now add in the chilli flakes and fresh thyme. Season well with salt and pepper and continue to sauté on a high heat. Add in the white wine to de-glaze and reduce by half. Now mix in the chopped tomatoes, sweet-corn and courgette and mix well. Cook on a low heat for forty minutes then add in the Biltong and tomato paste, cook for a further ten minutes and taste. Adjust seasoning to taste.
Remove the potatoes from the oven when cooked through, cut in quarter and divide the Biltong chilli between all four. Sprinkle over your cheese of choice and serve with a large dollop of sour cream or yoghurt.
Enjoy!
Gary O'Hanlon
Chef, TV & Radio Broadcaster and Columnist