I'm giving this recipe 3 stars "as is" but I made some changes and think it's better. In addition to the ground beef I added some Italian sausage. Mashing up the whole tomatoes didn't work to great so next time I am going to use stewed tomatoes. I omitted the red bell pepper. I used canned mushrooms instead of fresh although if you are a mushroom lover I'm sure fresh would be better. Four bay leaves is a bit overwhelming. I think cutting it back to two would be much better. I used a tablespoon of dried basil instead of two tbsps. fresh. I will make this recipe with my changes again and again.

Reviewed On: Mar. 2, 2009

This recipe was very good overall. I didn't feel like there were enough beans so I doubled what the recipe said to use. We like tomatoes in our chili and for it to be a little thicker. So next time I make this (and there WILL be a next time) I am going to lessen the amount of tomato juice and add some diced tomatoes.

Reviewed On: Mar. 2, 2009