Cincinnati Chili-Style Spaghetti

It's been awhile since I posted here, but...I haven't totally forgotten this blog. Honestly. This morning hubby was watching FoodTV (for something new and different) and came across a mention of Cincinnati style spaghetti. He asked me if I'd ever heard of it, and it sounded vaguely familiar. So I googled it and came up with this recipe. I just so happened to have a package of ground beef thawing for supper without a definite plan in mind, so I decided to try it. Here's what I did. We loved it, by the way. Definitely a do-again.

Cincinnati Chili-Style Spaghetti

1.5 pounds ground beef
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1.5 teaspoon ground cumin
2 tablespoons chili powder
a few drops tobasco sauce
.5 teaspoon ground allspice
1 teaspoon salt

Saute the above together until the meat is no longer pink. If you have extremely lean meat, you might need a slosh of olive oil to keep it from sticking. Then add:

1 small onion, finely chopped
2-3 cloves garlic, minced or grated
1 can tomato paste
1 can tomato sauce (I used a home-canned pint jar of roasted tomato sauce)
1 cup water
1 tablespoon vinegar
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
2-3 bay leaves
2 tablespoons cocoa powder

If you like a bit more heat, add a bit more chili powder or tobasco. Once this is simmering, start heating the water for pasta. The timing came out very well this way.

Makes about 4-6 servings

To serve: ladle over cooked spaghetti or linguine.

Cincinnati 3-Way: Sprinkle grated cheddar cheese over the top

Cincinnati 4-Way: A couple tablespoons of raw chopped onions, then the cheddar

Cincinnati 5-Way: Kidney beans, raw chopped onions, then cheddar

Hubby went for the 4-way. While I don't mind onions, I'm not keen on them raw, so I decided to pass on that version. However, the thought of kidney beans appealed to me (but not to him). Because i'm trying to get back to a low-GI diet, I only put a small scoop of the pasta in my plate, then about a cup of kidney beans and a good ladle of the sauce. Cheddar on top. This was to-die-for good.