Chef John’s Italian Sausage Chili

Description

I’ve added pork to ground beef in chili before, but I’ve never tried it with all Italian sausage, and I loved the results. We Italian’d this up even more with cannellini beans and a touch of basil, but other than that, it’s a fairly classic chili. Garnish with sour cream, avocado, red onion, and basil.

Ingredients

  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 ¼ pounds hot Italian sausage, casings removed
  • 1 ¼ pounds mild Italian sausage, casings removed
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • salt to taste
  • 2 tablespoons ancho chile powder
  • 1 teaspoon paprika
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
  • ½ teaspoon chipotle chile powder
  • ½ teaspoon dried oregano
  • 2 ½ cups water, or as needed
  • 1 cup tomato puree
  • 2 (15 ounce) cans cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
  • 1 red bell pepper, diced
  • 1 green bell pepper, diced

Instructions

  1. Heat oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Cook and stir hot Italian sausage
  2. mild Italian sausage
  3. onion
  4. and a pinch of salt together in the pot
  5. breaking up sausage with a wooden spoon. Cook until sausage is browned and crumbly
  6. and most of the liquid is evaporated
  7. about 10 minutes.
  8. Stir ancho chile powder
  9. paprika
  10. cumin
  11. ground black pepper
  12. chipotle chile powder
  13. and oregano into sausage mixture; saute until fragrant
  14. about 2 minutes.
  15. Pour water and tomato puree into sausage mixture
  16. bring to a simmer
  17. reduce heat to medium-low
  18. and cook on a steady simmer until sausage is tender
  19. about 45 minutes. Add water as necessary and skim any fat that floats to the top.
  20. Stir cannellini beans
  21. red bell pepper
  22. and green bell pepper into sausage mixture. Simmer until vegetables are tender
  23. about 30 minutes. Season with salt to taste.

Prep Time: 20 mins

Cook Time: 1 hr 30 mins

Total Time: 1 hr 50 mins

Servings: 6

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