Chilli Love

I came up with this nachos recipe; the goal was to make a really fresh, hot salsa rather than just blending tinned tomatoes and chilli beans. I’m really pleased with the results.

Finely dice half a courgette, half a green bell pepper and fresh green chillis to your taste. Two chills gave this salsa a pleasant but underwhelming tang for me; four made tears run down my face.

Finely dice one medium to large tomato.

Mist a small saucepan with cooking spray, then heat. Stir fry the courgette, bell pepper and chillis for no more than two minutes. Add the tomato and stir for another minute or so until the tomato pulp starts to loosen.

Add one quarter of a tin of refried beans and stir slowly to combine. The beans will absorb the tomato pulp and everything should blend up nicely.

Season with garlic and herb salt (you could of course have added fresh garlic and onion to the salsa if you’d wished, but those ingredients raw are no good for me) and dried mixed herbs or basil. Add up to one tablespoon of tomato paste to thicken the mixture and stir to blend.

Pour the mixture over tortilla chips and top with mozzarella to taste (less is better as you want to keep the vege flavours to the fore). Grill under a hot element until the cheese melts. Serve immediately.

If you’ve included more chilli than is ideal, a bottle of lager to hand will take care of the fire.

What’s your nachos recipe of choice?