3 yellow or white onions, diced
oil for sauteeing
10 garlic cloves, diced
2 pounds ground beef
spices: 1 tsp Aleppo pepper, 1/2 tsp anise seed, 1 tsp smokey paprika or your own desired level of spice
1/2 tsp salt
2 4 ounce cans green chiles, undrained
2 28 ounce cans crushed tomatoes

1 7 oz can green olives, drained
15 dried prunes, diced

1 or 2 tsp brown sugar
1/4 cup lemon juice

Saute the onions, and when they have reached your desired degree of doneness, add the garlic. Let that saute for a moment and start crumbling the beef and the sausage into the pan. I use a large flat pan so that I can saute and cook the soup in the same pan. When the meats are done, sprinkle them with spices. The spice level is up to you. When you add the prunes in a few minutes, the sweetness will tone down the spices. Sprinkle the meats with salt. Let the spices bloom for a few moments.

Add the green chiles and the crushed tomatoes. Let this simmer for about 10 minutes. Watch over it. You want most of the liquid gone, but not all of it. Actually this is up to you! Do you want a sauce to pour over potatoes or do you want more of a stew?

Add the green olives, prunes and the lemon juice and let it simmer for a few minutes. Taste it. Does it need more salt? Does it need a couple more prunes for sweetness to balance the spices and the salty olives?

I keep this pretty mild and serve it with a bottle of hot sauce so that I can really zip up my own portion.

Serve over rice or Tina’s Roast Potatoes.

Makes about 10 portions.