Minced Beef Sloppy Joes

📝 Ingredients

• 500 g minced beef, 15% fat
• 1 brown onion (about 120 g) + 2 garlic cloves
• 1 green pepper (about 150 g)
• 1 tin chopped tomatoes (400 g) + 2 tbsp tomato purée
• 1 tbsp Dijon mustard + 1 tbsp soft brown sugar + 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
• 1 tsp sweet paprika
• 4 wholemeal burger buns (about 65 g each)
• 2 carrots (about 100 g each) + ½ cucumber (about 150 g) for the crudités
• Salt, black pepper

🍴 Utensils

• Large sauté pan
• Frying pan
• Chopping board
• Peeler
• Spatula

📖 Steps

1. Peel and finely chop the onion and garlic. Deseed the pepper and cut it into small 5 mm dice: the smaller they are, the better the filling stays in the bun.
2. Heat a large sauté pan over a medium-high heat, without any fat. Crumble in the minced beef and cook for 5 min, breaking it up with a spatula, until no longer pink and starting to brown. The fat it releases is enough for the rest of the cooking.
3. Add the onion and pepper and cook for 4 min over a medium heat, stirring, until the onion turns translucent. Add the garlic and paprika and stir for 30 s. If a lot of fat has collected at the bottom, spoon some of it off.
4. Add the tomato purée and stir for 1 min to caramelise it slightly. Pour in the chopped tomatoes, mustard, brown sugar and vinegar, season with salt and pepper and mix well.
5. Leave to simmer for 10 min over a low heat, uncovered, stirring now and then, until the sauce has thickened and coats the meat well: the filling should be juicy but no longer runny. Taste and adjust the seasoning.
6. Meanwhile, peel the carrots, then cut the carrots and the half cucumber into sticks. Halve the buns and toast them for 1 to 2 min, cut side down in a dry frying pan over a medium heat: they'll hold up better to the sauce.
7. Top the base of each bun with a big spoonful of the beef in sauce, put the lid on and serve straight away with the vegetable sticks. Have napkins ready: this sandwich is eaten with your hands and drips a little, which is all part of its charm.