Tag: spaghetti

Delicious Cincinnati Chili: A Fresh Twist on Pasta

Posted on by M.

I often have spaghetti noodles left when all the sauce is gone, so making Cincinnati Chili is my favorite way of using them up. I actually grew up making this meal on its own, fresh spaghetti and all, so you do you.

selective focus photography of cincinnati chili pasta with tomato and basil
Photo by Lisa Fotios on Pexels.com

The best thing about this meal is that it is not necessarily a hot one and works well for scorching summer days.

Cincinnati Chili is filling but fresh.

Its almost like a salad on pasta.

Everyone can build their plate with ingredients they choose and any vegetable you want to add to the line up is great.

My new favorite way to garnish this dish is with fresh cilantro or basil!

A dish of cincinnati chili, pasta with black beans, topped with fresh onions, peppers and tomatoes, garnished with fresh cilantro.

Cincinnati Chili

Yield: 4 Servings
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 11 minutes
Total Time: 26 minutes

After a brief search on how to spell "chili" in this case, I have learned much. Let me warn you that this version is the 'poor missionary' version that I grew up with.

Ingredients

Toppings

  • 3 Tomatoes
  • 8 oz Cheese, grated
  • Black olives, optional
  • 1 Bunch Fresh Cilantro, optional
  • 6 Leaves Fresh Basil, optional
  • 1 Any Color Bell Pepper
  • 1 Red Onion or 3 Green Onions

Sauce

  • 1 t. Cumin, optional
  • 1 T. Chili Powder
  • 1 T. Garlic Powder
  • 1 t. Salt
  • 1 Can Black Beans
  • 1 Can Tomato Sauce

Pasta

  • 1 Pkg. Spaghetti

Instructions

  1. Chop all vegetables (I love that I can have this meal mostly ready ahead of time).
  2. Chop cilantro to mix into the dish (my favorite!) or save to garnish with leaves.
  3. Grate cheese, if necessary. (Another thing that can be done ahead or bought ready to go.)
  4. Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat.
  5. Add pasta, cover with lid and turn off heat.
  6. Test pasta after 11 minutes. You may need to cook longer if it is chickpea or lentil.
  7. Combine and heat beans, tomato sauce and seasonings in a saucepan on medium high until they begin to bubble.
  8. Drain pasta.
  9. Serve beans over pasta and top with vegetables and cheese.
  10. Add chopped cilantro or garnish and enjoy!

Notes

  • I switched to whole grain pasta a long time ago and prefer it now. You can use Lentil or Chickpea as well.
  • Optionally, cook up 1/2 lb. of ground meat and add it to the bean sauce. It makes the meal a little heartier for those of you feeding ravenous meat-eating men.
  • Honestly, if you think of something you like in a salad, you can pretty much add it to this meal.
  • On days when I can't be bothered, I have made a pot of pasta, heated some beans, grated some cheese and eaten it just like that with no vegetables at all. I won't judge you.
  • If you already have pico de gallo, guacamole or anything else made ahead, I have gladly substituted one or all of those for the vegetables in this dish!

© A Kitchen of Herbs
Category: Dinner

Delicious Homemade Spaghetti with Extra Veggies

Posted on by M.

I grew up eating homemade spaghetti, as I’m sure most of you did.

Of course, everything we ate was from scratch, because in the jungle back then, we didn’t have access to things like sauce in a jar.

cooked homemade spaghetti pasta with sliced tomatoes and green leafy

Over the years, the recipe has morphed a good deal, but this is my current version. It works well for us, is simple, tasty and very versatile.

One of my favorite adjustments to my spaghetti sauce is the addition of about 3 times the vegetables. It’s amazing to my how much heartier and tastier it became because I started using piles of peppers and onions.

It is also quite a bit cheaper, since meat is almost unnecessary and I use 1/2 the amount I used to. (Thank you, inflation, for helping me see the light.)

spaghetti

Spaghetti

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 Red Bell Peppers
  • 1 Yellow/Orange Bell Pepper
  • 1 Green Bell Pepper
  • 1 Large Onion
  • 6 Garlic Cloves or 3 T. Minced or 3 T. Garlic Powder
  • 1 lb. Any Ground Meat
  • 1 T. Olive Oil
  • 4 Sprigs Fresh Thyme or 2 T. Dried Thyme
  • 6 Sprigs Fresh Oregano or 2 T. Dried Oregano
  • 1 T. Garlic Salt or Salt
  • 1 t. Black Pepper
  • 1 T. Smoked Paprika or Paprika
  • 2 T. Italian Seasoning
  • 1/4 c. Worcestershire Sauce
  • 2 T. Beef Broth Base or 2 Bouillon Cubes
  • 1 T. Montreal Steak Seasoning
  • 3 Bay Leaves
  • 1 Large Jar Spaghetti Sauce
  • 1/2 Large Jar Water
  • 1 Large Can Crushed/Diced/Stewed Tomatoes
  • 1/2 Large Can Water
  • 1 Large Stockpot Water
  • 1 T. Olive Oil
  • 1 t. Salt
  • 1 Package Spaghetti Pasta

Instructions

  1. Chop peppers and onions. We like to keep our sauce very chunky, so I cut them into about 1″ pieces, but you can chop yours as fine as you like.
  2. Peel and dice garlic (if using fresh).
  3. Heat olive oil in large skillet on medium high.
  4. Add ground beef/meat and cook until mostly browned.
  5. If you need to drain the meat, this is your moment. I don’t, but I know some people prefer to.
  6. Stir in garlic, onions and peppers and cook about 1 minute, just to get a little bit of flavor going.
  7. If you are using fresh herbs, remove the stems before adding leaves to the mixture.
  8. Add all herbs, spices, seasonings and bay leaves, mixing well.
  9. Pour in all tomatoes and sauces, including filling the jars/cans with water. This rinses out the remaining sauce and also adds necessary liquid to the spaghetti sauce.
  10. Reduce heat to medium low and simmer 1 hour. Longer is better, but an hour will do the trick.
  11. Pasta:
  12. Bring large stockpot of water, 1 T. oil and 1 t. salt to a boil over high heat.
  13. This is for flavor and to keep pasta from sticking together.
  14. Add 1 package of spaghetti noodles (I like using whole wheat thin spaghetti).
  15. Cover with lid and turn off heat.
  16. Set timer for 11 minutes.
  17. Pasta should be perfectly al dente when the timer goes off. Adjust time to suit your taste.
  18. Immediately drain pasta. If you are afraid it will be overcooked, you can also run cold water over it right away to stop the cooking process.
  19. Serve with sauce and freshly grated parmesan cheese!

Notes

    • This sauce has great flavor and actually uses less meat than my previous recipes because the amount of onions and peppers add so much substance.
    • I make this batch and freeze half of it for another meal. It works great!

© A Kitchen of Herbs
Category: Dinner