Canned diced tomatoes, frozen and canned sausages, pasta and cheese are all you need to make this easy and comforting dish of spaghetti with hotdogs in tomato sauce.
This is a recipe from 2009. There have been so many times when I thought about deleting it because, well, it’s JUNK FOOD in caps. Never in my wildest imagination did I think that I’d go combing through my archive for easy to cook meals using the most basic pantry items.
But, you know, today’s reality is different. It looks like, for the next several weeks (or even months), many of us will be cooking with more convenience food and canned vegetables. So, I’m updating a recipe that’s over a decade old with more tips to make a simple meal more appetizing for children and adults alike.
When I cooked this dish, I had to use three different kinds of sausages because one without the others wouldn’t have been enough to feed four people. I had hotdogs, Chinese chorizo and a can of Vienna sausages. Not knowing exactly what would happen if I threw them all together in a pot with diced tomatoes, I decided it was nevertheless worth a try.
The result was surprising. I was prepared to hear my daughters’ whines of frustration but the sweetness of the Chinese chorizo and the sour notes of the Vienna sausages melded into a great tomato-based sauce. The regular hotdogs? For some reason, the processed food taste got lost along the way. I don’t know why.
See the notes at the end of the recipe for tips about substitutions and combining different kinds of cold meat.
Spaghetti With Hotdogs in Tomato Sauce
Ingredients
- 225 grams spaghetti
- 4 regular hotdogs (yes, the red kind, the one with food color), thinly sliced
- 3 Chinese chorizos thinly sliced
- 4 Vienna sausages (mine were pretty long, 4 sausages weighed about 200 grams), thinly sliced
- 2 cups diced tomatoes (I used canned)
- 1 large white onion finely chopped
- 4 tablespoons olive oil (not extra virgin)
- 1 small bunch fresh sweet basil optional
- salt
- pepper
- grated cheese
Instructions
- Cook the spaghetti in plenty of boiling water.
- While the spaghetti cooks, make the sauce. Heat the olive oil in a large pot.
- Over medium heat, cook the chopped onion with a lot of stirring, until translucent.
- Add the hotdogs, sausages and chorizos. Cook, stirring, for about a minute.
- Pour in the diced tomatoes. Season with a little salt and lots of freshly ground pepper. Bring to the boil, cover and simmer.
- When the spaghetti is almost done (not quite al dente but undercooked a bit more), drain and add to the sauce.
- Add half of the sliced basil leaves. Toss well and let the spaghetti finish cooking in the sauce.
- To serve, top the spaghetti with 3 sausages with the remaining sliced basil leaves and sprinkle with grated cheese.
Cook’s Notes
As I mentioned earlier, I combined three kinds of sausages because there was too little of each. If you have other kinds of cold and canned meat, sausage or otherwise, you may combine them in the same way. Salami, pepperoni, ham… any of these can go with canned luncheon meat, for instance. Don’t be afraid to experiment.
Updated from a recipe originally published in May 15, 2009If you cooked this dish (or made this drink) and you want to share your masterpiece, please use your own photos and write the cooking steps in your own words.
Hello and welcome! I'm a retired lawyer and columnist, wife for 28 years, mom of two, and a passionate cook. What is this blog about? Recipes for dishes 
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