cravings - filipino spaghetti

I don't know what it is about the winter that triggered my craving for one very particular thing: filipino-style spaghetti. Well, it's your regular spaghetti, but it's sweet and more, the way we Filipinos cook and eat this Italian dish.

I did not have all the ingredients so I improvised. This was my final product -


Filipino Spaghetti

2 Nathan’s hotdogs
1 jar Barilla Sweet Peppers sauce
6 cloves garlic
½ onion
1 pack Barilla Whole Grain Thin Spaghetti
1 lb ground beef
½ tsp dried basil
½ tsp black pepper
½ cup tomato ketchup
3 tbsp white sugar
2 tbsp olive oil
salt to taste

1. Cook spaghetti according to package instruction. Since I was using whole grain, I cooked it a bit longer. The package said around 5 to 6 minutes, I cooked them for 7. Hahaha. Big deal.

2. Heat olive oil on the sauce pan. Saute garlic until golden brown, then onions until transucent, then hot dogs, then the beef.

3. Open the jar. Haha! Put the contents into the pot. Put in the spices as you wish. I like mine with some dried basil, black and white pepper to make it a bit spicy and the sugar to make it sweet.

I called R, my expert friend at Pinoy spaghetti and he told me that I needed banana ketchup. I told him I have no banana ketchup and my craving for pinoy spag can’t wait. He said I can use any ketchup then, so I used what was in the pantry. I just tried and tried and tasted and tasted until I got the perfect balance between the sweet and the sour.

Verdict? Success. I satisfied my craving and I have about 3 to 4 servings that I am going to freeze for future emergencies. Hehe.

After cooking, I went online and searched "Filipino Spaghetti" and boy was I surprised to find out that Google generated a lot of pages about it. I found something funny from a guy who calls himself Komikero. After the link.

Mama Linda's Filipino Style Spaghetti