Italian Fantasy Chili or Fantasy Italian Chili

OK, this isn't exactly chili and it isn't really Italian but it's the best description I could come up with because Spicy Stew of Sausage, Chicken, Peppers and Onions with Cannellini Beans is way too long. It's kind of like chili and it's kind of Italian in flavor. And admittedly, I made this up as I went based on ingredients that sounded good together. But all that aside, this is delicious, savory and hearty. A great dinner on a cold wet Fall day or a frigid snowy Winter Saturday. Gotta have some good crusty country bread or ciabatta to have with it too along with a beer or wine.

Ingredients

1 lb Hot Italian sausage links cut into 1" pieces

2 Skinless Boneless Chicken Breasts roughly cut into 1" pieces

3 cans Cannellini Beans drained

1 medium sweet onion cut into thin half moons

1 bag mixed color mini sweet peppers cut into strips

12 - 15 grape tomatoes left whole

5 cloves of Garlic roughly chopped

1 tsp Herbes de Provance or Italian seasoning

1 tsp Cumin

1 Big Handful of fresh chopped Flat Leaf Parsley

5 Tutto Calabria Hot Peppers in oil cut in half lengthwise or generic red pepper flakes to taste

Water as needed to make the consistency to your liking

1/2 Lemon seeded and roughly chopped

Juice from one Lime 

3 Tablespoons Olive Oil divided

Salt and pepper to taste
Bread and wine

How to do it - 

In a heavy Dutch oven add about a tablespoon or so of olive oil and brown the sausage pieces. Then add the peppers including the hot Calabria peppers, onions and garlic. Cook until the peppers are soft and the onion is translucent - about 5 -8 minutes. Remove to a bowl and set aside but keep the juices in the pot. Deglaze if necessary with water or a little white wine.

Add the chicken to the pot and cook until browned add salt and pepper and the herbes de provance. Then the grape tomatoes

Add back the sausages, onions and peppers along with the parsley and lemon pieces. Add the juice from the lime. Add enough water to come almost up to the top of the ingredients. Cover and simmer on low for an hour

After an hour add the cannellini beans. Cover and cook for another hour. The chili should look like this -

ENJOY!!!