Rach’s Spicy Cincinnati Chili Over Spaghetti

Watch Rachael show you how to make her Cincinnati-style chili that she created in celebration of International Firefighters’ Day.

We’re gonna make Cincinnati-style chili. What I have going in here already, three onions. And I sweat them out, salt and pepper, and let them get nice and tender but not over too high heat. You don’t wanna brown them. You want them to get translucent. Then I add in some garlic, per pot,

Which would feed six people, salt and pepper, one fresh bay leaf, as I said. And once we get it to this consistency, see how buttery this looks? There’s no brown. There’s no fond on the bottom of the pot. I start out with a base of four tablespoons of chili powder.

Unsweetened chocolate is in every single Cincinnati chili recipe that I know of, anyway. And I prefer to use just the powdered stuff, one tablespoon powdered cocoa. Next, we have one tablespoon, also, of pimenton. What is that? Smoked sweet paprika. Two teaspoons, going on down the line, of ground cumin,

One teaspoon each of cayenne pepper, one teaspoon of oregano, 1/4 teaspoon each of cloves and allspice. So once we get the meat crumbled, we’re gonna add in that gorgeous spice blend. And now we’re gonna let this toast up just a bit. For the rest of the dish,

We’re going to need a can of red kidney beans. We’re gonna add a quart of beef stock or bone broth. We’re gonna add about two tablespoons of vinegar. Apple cider or wine vinegar is fine. I’m using apple cider, and we’re gonna add about two cups. This is three cups.

If you buy a big bottle of passata, which is just tomato puree, you’re only gonna use two thirds of this jar. Then, when we get to the toppings, very important you use yellow sharp cheddar cheese, is the traditional topping for this. I like a sprinkle of white, finely chopped onion.

So now that we’ve toasted our spices, we add a whole quart of beef stock or broth or bone broth, right? Once we do that, we can add in that little splash of vinegar. This has gotta simmer for a good 30 minutes. 20 minutes into that, you’re gonna drop your spaghetti.

So we’re gonna add in our protein and extra starch with a can of kidney beans, red kidney beans. All right. So we add our tomato product, and it’s gonna simmer uncovered. Once you bring it to a boil, turn the heat low and let this simmer for 30 minutes.

Okay, guys, we’ve cooked the pasta one minute less than recommended for al dente. Very important. So I’m gonna take the ladle and put about half the sauce. Then we’re gonna take that magic, starchy hot cooking water that makes everything marry together. We’re gonna add that to the pot.

We’re gonna transfer that to our serving bowl. And then I’m gonna kind of make a bit of a nest. So I’m gonna have to ladle in the rest of this chili on top like so. So the traditional toppings for this, guys, are, as I said before, the yellow cheese.

And here we go with our onions, raw white onions. And then John wants two hot sauces. One side, and the other. Thank you, Thomas. Our sweet friend Thomas sent us these for Christmas. So there we go. [cymbals crashing] [chimes tinkling] [cymbals crashing] [chimes tinkling]