Cowboy Spaghetti

This Cowboy Spaghetti is not your everyday bolognese. With the addition of bacon, beer, hot sauce, and smoked cheddar, this plate of pasta is a hearty, rustic meal that will definitely fill you up.

In witchcraft, we quite often talk about masculine and feminine energy. So much so that this polarity has its own Hermetic principle. Today we understand gender as a fluid social construct, but I think the ancient principle of polarity only confirms this idea. There are no hard boundaries between the poles, between hard and soft, projective and receptive, strong and malleable. They are simply different expressions of the same energy, and they weave together seamlessly.

Even in kitchen witchcraft, certain plants and ingredients have been categorized along this pole of masculine and feminine. But I have to admit, there are some dishes that just seem like dude food to me. Of course, this is decades and centuries of cultural influence, and we can debate all day about its relevance. All foods can be enjoyed by all people, but the vibe coming off of some dishes is pure testosterone as far as I'm concerned.

What makes Cowboy Spaghetti so awesome?

This Cowboy Spaghetti definitely seems like a masculine dish to me. This could simply be because I once made it for my dad, and he absolutely loved it. The name itself has a connotation of rustic dudes out on the trail. I didn't come up with the name, though. This recipe is adapted from Rachael Ray, so she gets the credit for that one. But this collection of deeply delicious ingredients feels projective to me without a doubt.

We're taking spaghetti bolognese to a whole new level by adding beer and hot sauce to our tomato base. Of course, there's the typical ground beef, but there's also crispy bacon crumbled over the top. And instead of traditional Parmesan cheese, this pasta gets topped with smoked cheddar. It's flavorful and hearty. It will fill up even the hungriest person. What's not to love?

Magical Properties of Beer

Beer, today tied to masculinity, was originally brewed by women. In fact, some speculate that the pointed witch's hat originated with female brewers. Beer has been classed as masculine or projective and is ruled by the planet Mars. It's a bit elementally promiscuous, having associations with earth, water, and fire. This beverabe can be used to call in prosperity, protection, and purification. It can also be used as an offering and summons the energy of home and family.

For more on the magical properties of the ingredients in this recipe, check the Kitchen Magick page.

Ingredients

Here's everything you'll need to make this dish. The full details are in the recipe card below.

• Spaghetti
• Olive oil - or whatever your preferred cooking oil is
• Bacon - smoked and streaky
• Ground beef - you could go with something leaner here or drain off the excess fat
• Green onions - aka spring onions
• Garlic - fresh and minced or garlic paste
• Salt and pepper
• Hot sauce - your favorite variety
• Worcestershire sauce
• Beer - something you'd like to drink since you won't use the whole bottle
• Tomatoes - you'll need both diced tomatoes and tomato sauce or pasata. If you can get fire roasted tomatoes, even better
• Cheddar cheese - bonus points if it's smoked

Tips for making Cowboy Spaghetti

True, there are a few extra ingredients here than in your typical spaghetti bolognese, but we're looking for a rustic, smoky, campfire type vibe. So you'll start by cooking pasta in the usual way. Just make sure you don't overcook it.

For the sauce, you'll want to cook your bacon until crisp, then remove it to a plate for crumbling on top later. Then you'll cook your ground beef in the same skillet, crumbling it with a wooden spoon as you go. Don't forget to season it with salt and plenty of black pepper. If you have quite a lot of fat in the pan, drain it off before proceeding.

Once your meat is cooked, we'll add another layer of flavor with the white part of your chopped green onions and your minced garlic. Follow that up with the Worcestershire and the hot sauce. Then add the beer to the pan. If you have any caramelized bits stuck to the bottom of your skillet, now is the time to scrape them up. It just adds to the flavor. Then add your tomatoes and tomato sauce and let the whole thing simmer for a few minutes.

I like to stir the pasta right into the sauce so it can start to absorb some of the flavor. To serve, add a generous amount of pasta and meat sauce to the plate, then sprinkle on some crumbled bacon, plenty of shredded cheese, and the green tops of your green onions. Dig in. It's gonna be awesome.

FAQ

Gender is a spectrum, but Cowboy Spaghetti is always awesome. I hope you'll give it a try.

Looking for more awesome pasta dishes? Check out this pasta with Spicy Alfredo Sauce or some Lemon Linguine.

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