Happy eats

With my upbringing, I was introduced to the distinctive tastes of Filipino cuisine from a young age. One of my most memorable dishes growing up is this spaghetti dish that I can still conjure up the taste of just thinking about it. It was only fairly recently that I realised it was a Filipino version of the spaghetti Bolognese. I just knew it as a sweet spaghetti dish that I could not get enough of when I was younger.

As I was thinking of stuff to make for my little one, I began to think back on what I liked to eat as a child and thought of ways of introducing it to the little man.

The authentic recipe of a Filipino spaghetti uses banana ketchup amongst other things. I only had store cupboard stuff that day so I played around with it and have managed to recreate that taste using nothing more than brown sugar (and not much of it).

If you’re feeding older kiddies and not needing to hide vegetables in, it’s a great party dish in a massive bowl to share – that’s certainly how I remember it. The gems of smoky frankfurters and that deliciously sweet tang of a sauce. Yum!

This is definitely a firm favourite for our little one.

As usual, this recipe avoids the use additional seasoning and the flavour comes from sauteing your ingredients.

Recipe

Main ingredients (adjust amount depending on how much you’re making. Judge the rest of the ingredients by how much spaghetti you want to make. Definitely a recipe that can be batch cooked and frozen into ice cubes or portioned):

• Frankfurters – not the tinned or jar type, but proper ones eg Herta frankfurters – diced into approx 5mm cubes depending on your target audience!
• Minced pork – I tend to go for the 20% fat ones rather than 10% or even less. I find the latter becomes very tough after cooking and all round less flavourful (as there’ll be no additional flavourings apart from the sugar as you’ll see)
• Spaghetti – pre boil as per pack. Cut into desired lengths if necessary (or leave this to the end of you’re blending/pureeing)
• Onion (1/3 or a half) – diced. Entirely optional
• 1 tin of chopped tomatoes in own sauce (400g tin)
• Brown sugar (1 teaspoon to a tablespoon depending on how much you’re making) – light soft, or medium soft brown sugar. Just not Demerara sugar
• Vegetables (optional) – anything you want – if you need to hide veg into your little one’s meal, this is one to do it. And anything frozen works well. Examples I’ve tried – combination of peas, frozen spinach works well, carrots (diced), sweetcorn, mushrooms

Method

• To make the sauce, saute your onions in a medium sized saucepan with a drop of olive oil on a medium heat.
• Once they’ve slightly browned and starting to caramelise, add the minced pork and saute in the same way. (Once the initial moisture is drawn out from the pork, they’ll start to brown which is what you want).
• Add the frankfurters and fry for a 3-4 mins.
• Add the tin of tomatoes, then any veg if using.
• Depending on how big a batch you’re making, add anything between a teaspoon to a tablespoon of brown sugar (err on less, don’t need much of it)
• Depending on how watery your tomatoes are, what veg you use, you may need to add a little water (pasta water would be best) to bulk out the sauce (but not too much, you don’t want it too watery).
• Place the lid on and let it simmer on a low heat for about 15-20 mins.
• Add your spaghetti and stir through the sauce. Voila!

Your sauce should taste like a slightly meaty tomato sauce with a hint of sweetness.

Happy eating! 🤤🤤🤤🤤🤤