pinoy-style spaghetti

Now, this is my take on the traditional pinoy spaghetti. Italian with a pinoy twist. I like to make my own pasta sauce from scratch. Why, it's fairly easy plus I get to control the ingredients and the seasonings. Fresh tomatoes, canned stewed tomatoes and tomato sauce, tomato paste and fresh herbs & spices are my key ingredients for basic Marinara sauce. But, for this recipe, I decided to omit the tomato paste.

I generally don't like hotdogs in my pasta sauce, but to sort of recreate the ever popular Jollibee spaghetti that I miss quite a bit (Jollibee, the East coast peeps are calling out to you!!!!), I threw in kielbasa (polish) sausages, which I absolutely love. Of course, it wouldn't be pinoy without banana ketchup or should i say, CATSUP and some sprinkling of brown sugar.

Sweet... spicy... Onli in da Pilipins!


Heat up a good amount of olive oil in a sauce pan and start sauteeing the garlic, onion, carrots, celery, tomatoes and red bell pepper. Season with s&p. Cook until vegetables are soft. Add the ground meat and cook until brown. Pour in H20, add bay leaf, beef buillon cube, the herbs and fish sauce. Simmer on medium heat. Add tomato sauce, stewed tomatoes, ketchup and more H20 if necessary. Then add the brown sugar and grated cheese. Finally, thrown in the kielbasa sausages and mushrooms. Give it a stir and slowly simmer for about 30 mins. Adjust the seasonings as necessary. I  like my meat sauce a bit spicy, so I like to add a good amount of ground pepper.

Serve with you choice of pasta, but to stick with tradition, use classic spaghetti. I served mine with whole wheat spaghetti as a healthier choice. Top with more grated cheddar cheese.