CHORIZO COCOA CHILI

Chorizo Cocoa Chili image

Provided by Colleen Sowa

Categories Chili

Time 1h45m

Number Of Ingredients 23

6 stick celery (chopped small)
2 large onions (chopped)
1 each: green and red bell peppers (minced)
1 qt water or broth
4 pt frozen, home canned (or 4 store bought cans of tomatoes)
1 can(s) (12 - ounces) tomato paste
1 c fresh cilantro (including stems) (minced)
6 Tbsp cocoa powder
1 Tbsp each: chili powder, ground cumin,
1 tsp each: garlic powder, ground red pepper, black pepper
6 clove fresh garlic (minced fine)
1 large lime (zest and juice)
1 c cilantro, fresh (including stems) minced fine
CHORIZO MEATBALLS
2 tubes pork chorizo
1 large onion (minced small)
1 bell pepper (minced small)
1 1/2 sleeves of crackers (crumbed)
3 eggs
OPTIONAL INGREDIENTS
tortilla chips (put on bottom of bowl when serving)
1 can(s) each: garbonzo beans, black beans, chili beans, kidney beans
1 can(s) whole kernel corn (drained)

Steps:

1. Bring quart of water to a boil in a very large pot. Add celery. Add onions and peppers. Add tomatoes (not the tomato paste). Cook for 10 minutes before adding remaining ingredients. Turn down the heat and simmer.
2. While soup is simmering, make your meatballs. Mix all ingredients together. Add about a tablespoon of olive oil to a large skillet. Pinch off about a teaspoon (or bigger if you like) of the meat mixture and put it in the skillet. Cook on Medium - Medium High heat. The "meatballs" aren't going to be round like the usual meatball, they will even flatten out a bit after you start cooking them. Be sure not to cook too fast, as they will burn, turn heat down as needed. The meatballs caramelize a bit.
3. Sometimes I add the beans and corn and sometimes I don't. It is good either way. When you add the beans and corn, you get a richer chili (my favorite). My daughter prefers it without beans sometimes. Adding these ingredient bump up the volume of the soup too... more servings!
4. Optional: Put tortilla or nacho chips in the bottom of each bowl and ladle the soup on top.