Chef Johns Italian Sausage Chili Recipes

Steps:

• Combine beef and tomato paste in a large pot. Rinse out the tomato paste can with a couple tablespoons of water and add to the pot with garlic, onion, chili powder, cumin, cinnamon, cayenne, allspice, cloves, black pepper, bay leaf, sugar, and salt. Add apple cider vinegar, Worcestershire, and cold water. Mash and stir with a potato masher or a large whisk to break up the meat into fine pieces.
• Place the pot over medium-high heat; bring to a boil, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook until flavors come together and chili reaches your desired thickness, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
• Meanwhile, bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook spaghetti in the boiling water, stirring occasionally, until very tender, about 12 minutes. Drain.
• Taste chili and adjust seasoning. Remove and discard bay leaf. Ladle over spaghetti into serving bowls. Top with some onions and Cheddar cheese. Cut and scoop the noodles up with a fork like you're eating a casserole.

Steps:

• Cut pork shoulder into cubes. Place in a bowl and refrigerate while preparing the other ingredients.
• Grind garlic with a pinch of salt in a mortar to make a paste. Add fennel, anise, and black pepper. Bruise spices lightly with a pestle to release the flavors. Add red pepper flakes, cayenne pepper, oregano, marjoram, coriander, mustard, allspice, sugar, and a splash of water. Stir to combine.
• Add the spice paste to the pork cubes. Mix thoroughly by hand. Add the remaining salt. Cover and refrigerate until flavors meld, 8 hours to overnight.
• Process the cold pork through a meat grinder on the slowest speed.
• Push a casing onto the stuffing tube of your meat grinder. Feed the sausage meat through the filling tray. Run the meat through the casing on the slowest speed until all the casing is used up. Tie casing at the end into a knot. Pinch and twist the meat to create links if desired.
• Place sausage onto a wire rack set over a sheet pan. Refrigerate uncovered for 24 hours.
• Preheat a charcoal grill for medium heat. Separate the links and grill them until browned, about 5 minutes per side.

Steps:

• Heat olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Transfer sausage links into the hot pot. Cover with a lid and cook until beautifully browned and just barely cooked through, about 5 minutes per side. You can increase the heat a little if you like, but make sure the oil does not smoke. Turn off the heat and remove sausages to a plate to cool completely.
• While the sausages are cooling, add wine to the same pot over medium-high heat. As it comes up to a simmer, stir the caramelized bits on the bottom of a pan with a spoon or spatula. Simmer until it reduces by about half, 1 to 2 minutes.
• Add marinara sauce. Pour water into the jar of pasta sauce, seal, and shake to rinse out the jar. Pour that liquid into the pot and return to a simmer. Reduce heat to low.
• Slice each fully cooled sausage into 4 pieces. Transfer sausage and any accumulated juices into the simmering sauce. Stir and increase heat to just between low and medium-low. Cook at a gentle, steady simmer, stirring occasionally, for 1 hour. Taste and adjust seasonings. Skim about 1/2 of the fat from the surface, and continue to cook until reduced and thick, about 30 minutes longer.
• Meanwhile, bring a large pot of generously salted water to a boil. Cook spaghetti in the boiling water, stirring occasionally, until almost tender yet firm to the bite, 10 to 11 minutes. Drain spaghetti and transfer it directly into the pot of hot sauce. Mix until thoroughly combined. Cover with the lid and let sit for 1 minute so the pasta can absorb some of the sauce.
• Evenly divide pasta onto 4 plates and top each serving with 4 pieces sausage. Sprinkle with Parmigiano-Reggiano and parsley.

Steps:

• In a small saucepan, saute the celery, onion and sweet peppers in oil until crisp-tender. Crumble the sausage into a skillet; cook over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Stir in the tomatoes, kidney beans, water, tomato paste, chilies and seasonings; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 20-30 minutes or until thickened. Sprinkle with cheese.