Super Bowl Cincinnati Chili

If you’re a Cincinnati Bengals fan, here’s a Super Bowl dish to celebrate your team.  Cincinnati Chili is a regional style of chili known for unusual flavorings such as cinnamon, cloves, allspice or chocolate; and the absence of chili peppers or chili powder that you find in Southwestern-style chili.

It’s traditionally served over spaghetti. That’s considered a “two-way.” A three-way is spaghetti topped with chili and shredded cheese. Four-way is spaghetti, chili, shredded cheese, and either diced onions or kidney beans. A Five-way is spaghetti, chili, shredded cheese, diced onions and beans.

This is a tweak on the recipe, a can of root beer adds some some sweet spicy notes without worrying about cinnamon, cloves, allspice etc. You can leave out the root beer if you want.

ROOTIN’ TOOTIN’  CINCINNATI CHILI 

         Prep time: 30 minutes

         Makes about 6 servings, with about 3/4 cup pasta, 1/3 cup beans and 3/4 cup chili.

         1 pound ground beef

         1 small green pepper, chopped or 1/4 cup dried bell pepper flakes

         3 tablespoons dried chopped onions

         1 tablespoon garlic powder

         1 14.5-ounce can petite diced tomatoes, undrained

         1 6-ounce can tomato paste

         12-ounce can root beer (Barq’s or another less-sweet type)

         1 tablespoon chili powder

         1 tablespoon ground cumin

         1 beef bouillon cube (or 1 teaspoon beef base)

         1 bay leaf

         2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

         1 teaspoon cinnamon

         Optional flavorings: 2 teaspoons unsweetened cocoa powder, pinch of  allspice, cloves, or cayenne pepper

         1 pound spaghetti noodles

         Options: Shredded cheddar cheese, diced fresh onions, 2 cans of kidney beans

         1. In a large sauté pan, cook the beef over medium heat, stirring and breaking up clumps of beef every couple of minutes.

         2. While the beef is cooking, chop the green pepper. Add the green pepper and onions to the beef and continue cook, until ground beef is no longer pink. Drain fat if necessary.

         3. Stir in diced tomatoes, tomato paste, root beer, chili powder, cumin, bouillon cube, bay leaf, Worcestershire sauce, cinnamon, and optional flavorings. Cook, uncovered, over medium-high heat for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally to keep mixture from sticking.

         4. While beef mixture cooks, fill a large 4-6-quart pot halfway full with water. Cover and set over high heat until water begins boiling. Add spaghetti; turn heat to medium and cover.

         5. Cook pasta for 9-10 minutes, or until al dente (tender but still a little chewy).  Drain the pasta.

         6. Remove the bay leaf from spaghetti before serving.

         7.  Serve chili over spaghetti noodles for a “two way.”

         8. Three-way: Spaghetti topped with chili and shredded cheese.

         9. Four-way: Spaghetti, chili, shredded cheese, and either diced onions or kidney beans

         10. Five-way: Spaghetti, chili, shredded cheese, diced onions, beans

— From “Soup’s On!” by Valerie Phillips