Last month, I shared my husband's recipe for a slow cooker chilli con carne that he batch cooked, so this month I'm sharing my vegetarian (vegan) version.

With different dietary requirements, we find it works well to batch cook our own versions of certain dishes – chilli, bolognese, curry, stew – and then choose a side to go with them. It certainly makes life that little bit more manageable on a busy weekday when we're both at work and need an easy, freezer-grab dinner.

I love how versatile a vegetarian chilli can be and although I usually tend to stick to the recipe below because it's so tasty, I sometimes end up adding extra vegetables that need using up, or a different type of bean if I want to mix things up. You can certainly do this if you prefer different beans to the ones I've included.

Similarly to my husband's chilli, this recipe makes 12 portions, so it's a great opportunity to fill your freezer for easy dinners over the following weeks.

I prefer to use a food processor to finely chop the vegetables, as it takes a lot less time than chopping when you're batch cooking.

The Quorn mince is optional, but I find it helps to bulk up the chilli and add a bit more protein. You could use an alternative or just add more beans/vegetables.


Ingredients:
A drizzle of vegetable oil
2 red onions, finely chopped
1 white onion, finely chopped
4 sticks celery, finely chopped
100ml red wine
A thumb-size piece of fresh ginger, finely chopped
6 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp ground coriander
2 tsp mixed herbs
2 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp chilli flakes (more if you prefer a bit more heat)
250g mushrooms, finely chopped
2 tbsp tomato purée
1 vegetable stock cube
1 tbsp honey (optional)
A dash of Worcestershire sauce (optional)
3 tsp sugar
2 red peppers, chopped into small chunks
1 large carrot, finely chopped
2 x 400g tins chopped tomatoes
1 x 400g passata
2 x 400g tins chickpeas
2 x 400g tins kidney beans in chilli sauce
2 x 400g tins black beans
6 squares dark chocolate
500g Quorn mince or alternative (optional)

Method:
1. Heat the oil in a large pan then add the red and white onions and celery. Cook for around 10 minutes until soft.

2. Pour in the red wine and simmer for a few minutes until the smell of the alcohol has cooked off.

3. Add the ginger, garlic, cumin, coriander, mixed herbs, smoked paprika and chilli flakes. Stir well and cook for 1 minute.

4. Add the mushrooms and cook for a few minutes until the water has started to come out of them.

5. Put the tomato purée, stock cube, honey (if using), Worcestershire sauce (if using) sugar into the pan and mix well.

6. Add the peppers, carrot, tinned tomatoes and passata, and stir well.

7. Mix in the chickpeas, kidney beans and black beans, then add the dark chocolate.

8. Cook on a low-medium heat for at least an hour so that all the vegetables cook down, the beans soften, and the sauce gets nice and rich. Stir periodically and taste for seasoning.

9. Once you're happy that the chilli has cooked down nicely, add in the Quorn mince if using and cook for a further 10 minutes.

10. Serve with your choice of rice or garlic bread. I also like to serve this with some guacamole or even just sliced avocado and a squeeze of lime for a bit of freshness.

11. Allow the rest of the chilli to cook fully before portioning up and popping in your freezer.