Ingredients

• Vegetable stock (4 cups)

• Onion (large) (1)

• Garlic (4 cloves)

• Pancetta (4 ½ oz.)

• Thyme (½ tsp.)

• Cumin (½ tsp.)

• Vito & Joe’s Extra Virgin Olive Oil

• Canelli beans (2, 15oz. cans)

• Green onions (2 bunches)

• Tomato paste (4 tbsp.)

• Smoked paprika (1 tsp.)

• Hot Italian sausage (1 ¼ lbs.)

• Cinnamon (¼ tsp.)

• Unsalted butter (4 tbsp.)

• Chili powder (2 ½ tbsp.)

• 80/20 ground beef (1 ¼ lbs.)

• Fresh ground black pepper

• Oregano (½ tsp.)

• Nutmeg (¼ tsp.)

• Red pepper flakes (½ tsp. – crushed)

• Peppers (3 – red, orange and yellow)

• Sweet Italian sausage (1 ¼ lbs.)   

For Topping:

• Mascarpone cheese (8 oz.)

• Heavy cream (4 tbsp.)

 For Serving:

• Italian bread (1 loaf)

• Butter

• Ground pepper

• Pink Himalayan sea salt

How to Prepare

1. Remove all casings from the sausage and set aside.

2. Chop the green onions (save tops for serving), peppers, garlic and the onions in ¼ inch pieces.

3. Set the garlic aside.

4. Heat ¼ cup of Vito & Joe’s Extra Virgin Olive Oil over high heat.

5. Add the chopped vegetables (except the garlic) and sauté for about 12 minutes until the vegetables start to caramelize.

6. Add the garlic.

7. Turn the heat down so the garlic just simmers with the vegetables.

8. Using a second pan, heat ¼ cup of Vito & Joe’s Extra Virgin Olive Oil over high heat.

9. Add all the meat (sausage, ground beef, pancetta) to the second pan.

10. Brown the meat constantly stirring to break up the meat.

11. Process is approximately 6 minutes.

12. While the meat is browning, add the butter to the vegetables to deglaze the pan.

13. Scraping the edges to get all the flavor off the sides of the pan.

14. Simmer for about 2 – 3 minutes.

15. Turn the heat on both pans to low.

16. Add the smoked paprika, chili powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, thyme, cumin, crushed red pepper flakes, oregano and fresh ground black pepper to the browned meat mixture.

17. Simmer the spices in the meat for 2 – 3 minutes.

18. Add the sautéed vegetables to the meat.

19. After 1 minute, add the tomato paste to the meat and vegetable mixture.

20. Using 1 cup of vegetable stock, deglaze the vegetable pan. Pay careful attention to ensure you get all the scrapings from the sides while the pan is hot.

21. Add 1 cup of vegetable stock to the meat and vegetable pan.

22. Also scraping the sides to get all the scrapings and flavor from the edges of the pan.

23. Add the remaining 2 cups of vegetable stock to the meat and vegetable pan.

24. Add the 1 cup of vegetable stock with the scrapings from the vegetable sauté pan.

25. Turn the heat to low as the vegetables, meat, tomato paste and vegetable stock simmer.

26. While the chili is simmering, mix the Mascarpone cheese and heavy cream to make a nice thin creamy cheese topping. Stir for about 1 minute and a half.

27. Slice the Italian bread.

28. Top the bread with butter, freshly ground black pepper and Himalayan sea salt.

29. Frill for a nice butter toasted slice of bread.

30. Serve the chili with a nice scoop of the Mascarpone cheese, the green onions that were set aside from earlier and a slice or 2 of the toasted Italian bread. Enjoy!