Italian Chili
Growing up, my grandmothers recipe for pasta fagioli was basically Italian Chili. Lots of meat and tomatoes served piping hot in a bowl with ditalini. I took this idea to the next level, adding even more meat and making the chili thicker and a but spicier with so much flavor! And on top, where you might put cornbread on chili, I used grilled polenta!
The inspiration for this recipe
I’ve made lots of world wide chili variations over the years, and every fall I like to do at least one cause I loooove chili. I thought of an Italian twist, and much to my surprise, there were already lots of Italian chili versions out there. I guess I should have known cause it’s sort of an obvious combo. As always in this sort of situation, I took some of the ideas out there and combined them with my own additions.I loaded the soup with salami to add an amazing richness to the whole pot, and topped it with grilled polenta to emulate cornbread.
Start the meaty base for the Italian Chili
Steak in first to sear, then add some sausage, and lots of pepperoni and salami. The pepperoni and salami add so much flavor to the entire chili! Because we are using so much of it though, be careful with the salt as you go because it is easy to oversalt this chili.
Onion, carrot, bell pepper, and jalapeno next. Then add garlic and tomato paste and let it saute for about 10 minutes. Also – I used a slow cooker but the instructions for this are for either a slow cooker or stovertop!
Add the Italian Chili liquids
A can of tomato of course. Then some stock, balsamic, and honey. I also added paprika, chili powder, and Italian seasoning.
Make the polenta
You should make this the day before but I wanted the photos to start with making the Italian chili. The polenta is just water, butter, and salt. Spread it out to cook overnight in the fridge.
Then sear it on the grill to golden brown. I also cooked some ditalini pasta to top the chili with.
Serving the Italian Chili
Wait to add the beans to the chili until the last 20 minutes of cooking. Then when it is ready to serve, add the pasta to the bowl first, then the Italian chili. Stir it together a bit, then top with scallions, sour cream, and the grilled polenta.
Sour cream might not be the most Italian topping, but for me, no chili is complete without it. You could swap it out with some creme fraiche if you would rather.
This Italian chili is SO GOOD! It packs so much flavor from the sausages, and really balances the line between chili and Italian flavors perfectly. Dipping the polenta in creates a bite of perfection.
Twists on this recipe
The photos are of a slow cooker, but the recipe is written for either. You could skip the pasta in this if you wanted and it would also be gluten free at that point. I would just do a little extra polenta.
For more info on making solid polenta, check out this recipe
I linked a few of my chili recipes above, but this is my favorite chili recipe, and I also love this lamb version.
Italian Chili
Ingredients
Polenta
- 3 cup water
- 1 cup fine cornmeal
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup butter
Chili
- 1 pound sirloin cut into small cubes
- 1 pound hot Italian sausage
- 4 ounces pepperoni diced
- 4 ounces salami diced
- 1 green bell pepper diced
- 2 jalapenos diced
- 1 large carrot diced
- 1 onion diced
- 8 cloves garlic
- 6 ounces tomato paste
- 28 ounces canned diced tomato
- 4 cups chicken stock
- 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 1 tablespoon smoked paprika
- 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- 28 ounces cannellini beans strained and rinsed
Serve
- 1 pound ditalini cooked to package instructions
- chopped scallion
- sour cream
Instructions
Start the polenta the day before
- Make the polenta first because it needs to rest overnight. Bring the water to a simmer and whisk in the cornmeal. Add the salt. Stir and cook for about 25 minutes until smooth. Stir in the butter. Pour into a pan lined with parchment and cover with another pan to flatten. Store in the fridge to firm.
Start the chili
- Preheat a large sauce pot to high, or a slow cooker to sear mode. Add in some olive oil and the steak. Season with a pinch of salt but be conservative with it. Sear the steak on all sides.
- Add in the sausage, pepperoni, and salami. Cook and combine to saute and slightly brown.
- Add in the peppers, carrot, and onion. Cook 5 minutes, stirring often. Add in the garlic and tomato paste and cook 10 minutes, stirring often.
- Add in all the remaining chili ingredients except for the beans. Season with another pinch of salt but again, be cautious because the pepperoni and salami and sausage are all salty.
- Bring to a simmer and cover. Cook on low for about 3 hours until the sirloin is tender and falling apart.
- Add the beans into the chili and cook another 20 minutes.
Cook the polenta and serve
- Slice the polenta into squares. Brush with oil. Sear on a grill or in a pan until golden brown. Make sure you use a hot pan and lots of oil, and don't touch them for a while, or they will stick to the pan.
- Add some ditalini to a bowl and top with the chili. Add a few polenta cubes, then top with the scallions and sour cream. Serve
Looks grand!
Wouldn’t the mushroom stock have some grit from the dried criminis? Might it be a good idea to pull out the reconstituted chillis and mushrooms, sieve the stock, and then puree the lot?
This sounds really, really good. And I like how you served it with polenta.
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