Italian Style Chili

This tastes even better the next day and freezes well also --- serve this on cooked spaghetti with crusty bread on the side, all ground beef or italian sausage meat may be used if desired --- plan ahead this sauce needs some time to cook, the longer you cook it the thicker and richer it will be, you may also make this in a crockpot --- the recipe may be doubled, adjust the chili powder and all ingredient amounts to taste, try not to omit the italian pepperoni, it really adds extra flavor to this dish! :)

Steps

Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat.

Add in ground beef , italian sausage meat , onion , garlic , chili flakes and bell pepper.

Cook until the meat is browned breaking up meat with a spoon while cooking.

Drain fat.

Add in spaghetti sauce , beef broth or water , tomatoes with juice , mushrooms , pepperoni , bouillon powder and chili powder and cumin.

Bring to a simmer over medium heat.

Reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 1 hour , stirring occasionally.

After 1 hour of cooking season with salt and pepper and add in kidney beans , continue cooking for 30 minutes more.

At the end of cooking stir in the cheddar cheese or you may sprinkle on top in place of the parmesan cheese.

Ladle on top of cooked spaghetti , then sprinkle with parmesan cheese to taste.

Ingredients

olive oil, ground beef, italian sausage, onion, garlic, red chili pepper flakes, green bell pepper, three-cheese pasta sauce, beef broth, diced tomatoes, button mushroom, pepperoni, beef bouillon powder, chili powder, cumin powder, kidney beans, salt and black pepper, cheddar cheese, cooked spaghetti, parmesan cheese