Chorizo and Green Tomato Chili

Green tomatoes simmered with ground pork and chorizo sausage makes an amazing green & white chili. Served over spaghetti noodles and topped with cheese, this is a great Fall meal.

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This post is sponsored by the Ohio Pork Council. My goal is to share a recipe using ground pork, but I've got much more for you today. First off, I've got a little video I put together about the many uses of ground pork. When I visited the Surber farm I knew I was going to do a post about ground pork later in the summer, but I didn't know that Connie Surber was going to give me such a wonderful content about the uses of ground pork! I'm really glad I happened to have my phone on video, to record her conversation, although I apologize for standing near a wind chime. I'm still learning this video stuff, and if I knew how to make the images of my recipes into clickable links within the video I'd've done that. Instead, scroll down to the bottom to find links to my recipes that appear in this video.

I credit my spouse as the inspiration for this chili. I knew I wanted to make something special with the chorizo given to me during my visit with the Runyan family of Oakview Farms, so I asked my husband if he'd be game to try a Chorizo Chili. He'd just returned from a 2 week trip eating at a dining facility on a base in Alabama, so he was up for anything other than institutional food. Since he's a fan of Cincinnati chili, he asked, "can we eat it over spaghetti, with cheese?" and BOOM! I was inspired.

Right off the bat I'll tell you that despite the serving style, this is not a green and white version of Cincinnati chili. There's no cinnamon or chocolate, for one thing. Instead I was going for the texture of Cincinnati chili but using green tomatoes, green chiles, and pork rather than red tomatoes, chili powder, and beef. This self-inflicted challenge to avoid red in my chili yet create a flavorful gravy for our spaghetti ended up being a 'clean out the freezer' meal for me. In addition to the local pork (frozen right after processing for no loss of flavor) I put up chopped green tomatoes before frost, and roasted Hatch chiles during their peak season --which happens to be when I'm posting this recipe. Go get you some Hatch chiles, they are delicious! Cooking from the freezer stash is another way I eat local year round.

Ground pork from KJB Farms, fresh pork chorizo courtesy of Oakview Farm Meats.

For more recipes using green tomatoes, please see my Green Tomato Recipes Collection. None of them are fried, I'll tell you that right now. For more recipes using Hatch chiles, please see my Hatch Chile Recipes Collection. These collections are part of the Visual Recipe Index by Ingredient, a resource for folks like me eating from the farm share, the farmer's market, the garden, the neighbor's garden, and great deals on ugly produce at the grocery store. 
For more recipes using ground pork or chorizo . . . a new recipe collection is on my to do list. In the meantime, how about this? For chorizo, try my Spicy Corn & Sweet Potato Chowder or my Six Ingredient Spicy Mustard Greens Soup (in the slow cooker). For ground pork, may I interest you in some Asian inspired Pork and Leek Dumplings or some spicy Salsa Verde Pork Tacos?

I'm sharing more recipes on my Pinterest boards, follow me there. If you like a good peek behind the scenes like I do, follow me on Instagram. Need a good read? I'm sharing articles of interest on my Facebook page, follow me there. Want to know How to Use This Blog?

Need a little video inspiration for this chili? Here's how I made it!

Chorizo and Green Tomato Chili
By Kirsten Madaus

Green tomatoes simmered (in beer!) with ground pork and chorizo sausage makes an amazing chili. Served over spaghetti noodles and topped with cheese, this is a great Fall meal.

Prep time: 00:10
Cook time: 00:45
Total time: 00:55

Yield: 6 to 8 servings

Ingredients:

1 Tablespoon fat (I used bacon grease, but cooking oil or butter is fine)
1 pound fresh ground pork
1 pound pork chorizo sausage (NOT Mexican chorizo)
1½ cups chopped onion (plus more to serve)
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon salt (I use kosher)
¾ teaspoon ground white pepper (you can substitute black)
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
4 cups chopped green (unripe) tomatoes
½ cup chopped roasted green chiles (I used Hatch chiles)
16 ounces beer (I used a lager)
optional, to serve, 1 pound spaghetti, cooked and drained
optional, to serve, 1 to 2 cups finely shredded cheddar cheese
optional, to serve, sour cream

Instructions:

In a large heavy bottomed pot, heat fat over medium high heat and cook the meats until lightly browned (about 5 minutes).

Add onion and garlic and cook until softened, about 5 minutes.

Add the bay leaf, seasonings, tomatoes and chiles, and beer. Bring to a boil.

Reduce heat to medium low and simmer, uncovered, for 30 minutes stirring every 10 minutes or so.

(At this point I put a lid on it, reduced heat to low, and let the chili hang out while I fixed the spaghetti noodles.)

Serve in a shallow bowl over spaghetti noodles, topped with shredded cheese, diced onion, sour cream, and oyster crackers.

Here's some other Farm Fresh Feasts recipes using ground pork:

Pickled Pork and White Bean Sliders

Pork and Leek Dumplings

Green Tomato, Pork, and White Bean Chili

Salsa Verde Pork Tacos