Spanish Bocconcini Ball Chili
"For my Spanish inspired chili, take Tre Stelle Bocconcini balls, wrap them with serano ham and olives for a delicious tapas version!"
Prep Time:50 minutes Ready In:
1 + hour Serves:
4
Ingredients:
Spanish Chili: 3 tbsp olive oil 1 large onion, diced 5 cloves of garlic, minced 4 fresh chorizo sausages, from the butcher, casings removed 1 tbsp chilli powder 1 tbsp dried rosemary 2 tsp dried thyme 2 tsp espelette pepper 2 tsp ground cumin 1 tsp sweet paprika 2 large carrots, cut into 1/2 inch quarters 2 large sweet red pepper, seeded and diced into 1/2 pieces 2 large celery sticks, sliced into 1/2 pieces 2 28 oz (796 ml) cans of diced or crushed tomatoes 1 14-19 oz (400-540 ml) white beans or romano, drained and rinsed 2 medium zucchini, sliced into 1/2 inch slices fresh parsley to garnish Spanish Bocconcini Ball topping: 16 Tre Stelle Bocconcini balls, drained well 8-16 slices of Serrano Ham, (if large, can slice 8 slices in half lengthwise) 16 Spanish style or Greek pitted olives Espellete pepper kosher salt and cracked pepper olive oil for drizzling 16 cocktail skewers
Instructions:
Chili: Sauté the onions and garlic in a large dutch oven or pot over medium heat, until just turning translucent, about 3 minutes. Remove the meat from the sausage casings and add to the pot. Raise the heat to medium high. Using a cooking spoon, break up the meat until small and crumbly, no longer pink but rather turning crispy, about 7-8 minutes. Add the spices and stir to coat well. Add the carrots, peppers and celery, and cook till just starting to soften, about 5-7 minutes. Add the tomatoes and all juice and bring to a low boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cover slightly with the lid. Let it simmer for about 30 minutes, till veggies are almost tender. Add the can of beans. Continue to simmer another 10 minutes. Add the zucchini pieces and simmer another 5-10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, and re-season with any of the spices or herbs you'd like to taste more of! Garnish with the fresh parsley. Spanish Tapas Bocconcini ball topping: Take one slice of Serrano Ham (it should be around 5 inches long and 1inch wide) and guide one end onto a cocktail skewer. Add one bocconcini ball. Wrap the ham around the ball and skewer it again, to capture the cheese inside the ham. Add an olive onto the skewer. Wrap the ham around the olive, thus trapping it on the skewer as well. Repeat with the remaining 15 skewers. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with peppers and salt as desired.
