Loaded Taco Style Pasta

This recipe is part of our Flavour Bombs series - discovering the magic of spices, to flavour hack your meals and create a flavour bomb dinner! Tacos meet pasta - name a better combo, we’ll wait. The secret to this dish is the homemade taco seasoning blend packed with storecupboard spices - cumin, paprika, oregano, garlic and onion powder, and as much or little chili as you like. For a slightly speedier version you could use a ready made spice blend. Whip up a big batch of the taco seasoning then you can use to season meats and vegetables, sprinkle over potatoes,stir into pasta sauces, or mix into sour cream for delicious dip.

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Ingredients

fusilli pasta 300 g
bell pepper 1 (diced)
red onion 1 (diced)
ground cumin 1 tbsp
paprika ½ tbsp
dried oregano 1 tbsp
garlic powder ½ tbsp
onion granules 1 tsp
chilli powder 1 tsp
beef mince 200 g
tomato passata 500 ml
black beans 400 g (drained)
sour cream 4 tbsp
tortilla chips 50 g (crushed)

Method

Cook the pasta

Cook the pasta in boiling salted water, until cooked to how you like it.

Prep the ingredients

Deseed and dice the pepper. Peel and dice the red onion.

Make the taco seasoning

In a bowl, combine together the cumin, paprika, oregano, garlic powder, oniongranules and chilli powder (you can add more or less chilli depending on your taste). Top tip - make a double batch and use for meat rubs, sprinkle over potatoes, stir into sauces**.

Cook the dish

Heat a pan on a medium-high heat, add the beef mince, sprinkle over half the taco seasoning and cook for around 5-6 minutes, until golden brown.
Stir in the red onion and bell pepper and cook for 5 minutes.
Stir in the tomato passata and drained black beans, cook on a high heat for 1 minute, stirring really well so it doesn’t catch in the pan. Check the seasoning and adjust to taste.

Make the taco crema

In a bowl mix together the sour cream and the rest of the taco seasoning.

Plate Up

Crush the tortilla chips - just to a coarse crumble, not too fine, so it adds extra texture.
Plate up the pasta, drizzle over the taco crema and sprinkle the crushed tortilla on top. Mix it up - you could add a hot chilli drizzle, jalapeños, avocado, grated cheese - mix it up to how you fancy!

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