Grünkern-Chili-Cheese-Kartoffeln (baked potatoes with green spelt chili and cheese)

Method

1. Heat the oven to 200°C. Prick the potatoes a few times with a fork, rub with oil, and bake directly on the oven rack for 55 to 60 minutes, until they give easily when squeezed.
2. Meanwhile, rinse the green spelt and combine with the broth in a pan. Bring to a simmer and cook 20 to 25 minutes, until tender with a slight chew, not crunchy. Drain any excess liquid.
3. Heat the oil in a separate pan. Sweat the onion and pepper for 5 minutes, until softened.
4. Stir in the chilli powder and cook 30 seconds, until fragrant.
5. Add the chopped tomatoes, kidney beans and cooked green spelt. Simmer 10 minutes, until thickened. Season with salt.
6. Split the baked potatoes open and fluff the insides with a fork. Spoon the chili generously over each, top with grated cheese, and grill for 3 to 4 minutes, until melted and bubbling.

Notes

• Give the green spelt a proper simmer, not a quick soak. It is a fuller, chewier grain than couscous or bulgur and needs real cooking time to soften; rushed, it stays unpleasantly crunchy in the finished chili.
• Bake the potatoes directly on the oven rack, not wrapped in foil. Foil steams the skin soft; an unwrapped potato on the rack develops a properly crisp skin.
• Fluff the potato flesh before topping it. A whole, dense potato interior does not take on the chili’s flavour the way a fluffed, aerated one does.
• The chili keeps for 4 days in the fridge and freezes well, separately from the potatoes, which are best baked fresh.

Ingredient substitutions

• Green spelt can be swapped for pearl barley if unavailable, cooked the same way; the flavour will be milder.
• Kidney beans can be black beans or any tinned bean you have.
• Grated cheese should be a good melting variety; a smoked cheese is a good match for the green spelt’s roasted, nutty character.