The other night pa kami ni Dennis may hankering for spaghetti. But since we already had something prepared for dinner last Friday night, we had no choice but to set it aside for another time. Last night, the inspiration to serve spaghetti for dinner struck, even if all afternoon long, I was already of the mind to serve something with togue (munggo beans sprouts) which has become Dennis’ favorite dish of late.

I haven’t really cooked spaghetti, despite my penchant for trying to be Martha Stewart-esque. I mean, Dennis and I have cooked pasta before but it was almost always of the white sauce variety. And Dennis was usually the lead cook, leaving me to assume the helper position.

Last night was the first night I had to cook spaghetti, complete with the red spaghetti sauce, myself.

I was already actually at the grocery store when I thought about serving spaghetti for dinner. When the spaghetti idea popped into my mind like the proverbial light bulb, I had to call up Jenny and check from her the ingredients she usually uses. She said that her spaghetti sauce has always been of the simple variety because of her kids. It’s just tomato sauce and beef and spaghetti and seasoning.

Jenny suggested that I can just buy bottled spaghetti sauce and use it as a base but I decided against it after checking the ingredients – too much salt and high fructose corn syrup.

Taking the cue from her simple recipe, I picked up two cans of Del Monte tomato sauce, spaghetti noodles (to cook for 10 minutes – as per the packaging – for that truly al dente consistency), fresh mushrooms, ground chicken meat (frozen), chicken frankfurters (frozen), Jufran banana catsup and a small can of sliced black olives. At the flat, I added raisins and  shredded cheddar cheese and onions and garlic to my list of ingredients to use.

I think that the frankfurters, olives and raisins made for a chunkier spaghetti sauce while the raisins added a little more sweetness to the sauce already sweetened by the banana catsup. To add more spice flavor, I also used a dash of Aji Ginisa mix.

So while I had the water boiling for the pasta, I just sauteed everything in a wok. I really made sure the pasta was al dente and that I had it truly drained. I so hate soggy pasta.

I also spread faux butter on one side of sliced white bread and added some of the shredded cheddar cheese on top and popped them into the oven toaster. For a dash of green garnish, I sprinkled parsley leaves over the bread after I took it out of the oven.

To wash down the spaghetti and the bread, Dennis and I had Zest-o root beer on the rocks.

Needless to say, it was a very delightful meal which turned out to be easy to cook. Our neighbors downstairs were kind enough to say it was pasado, after sharing with them a bowl.