Guest Author - Chidori Phillips
Wafuu pasuta is Japanese-style pasta and there are many variations concocted by creative restaurant and home chefs. But Pasuta Napolitan is a well-known rendition often sold at pasta shops in Japan.
Americans may wrinkle their noses at the combination of hot dogs, ketchup and pasta, especially when avid wiener lovers think ketchup on hot dogs is an abomination. My husband is one. He doesn’t care much for pasta anyway and the thought of pasta topped with ketchup is repulsive. I, on the other hand, love both pasta and ketchup. I just never thought of mixing them together in the same dish. But ketchup is really a sweet marinara sauce minus the garlic and herbs so I remained open-minded. It turned out surprisingly simple and delightful. Mild flavored and un-Italian but a new dish all its own.
Pasuta Napolitan
½ lb. spaghetti noodles
3/4 cup tomato ketchup
¼ cup white onion, sliced
¼ cup green bellpepper, sliced
2 Tbsp. butter
1 Tbsp. soy sauce
2 tsp. Worchestershire sauce or tonkatsu sauce
2 Tbsp. milk or cream
1 cup hot dog wieners, sliced into coins
2 strips bacon, sliced
1 green onion, sliced
In a large pot of salted, boiling water, cook the spaghetti noodles until al dente. Drain. Do not rinse.
In a skillet, cook bacon; do not drain fat. Add sliced onion and bell pepper and cook until translucent. Add hot dogs and brown slightly. Add butter, soy sauce, Worcestershire, cream and ketchup. Stir until hot and bubbly. Toss in hot pasta and coat well. Plate and garnish with sliced green onions.
