Please don’t be put off by the title, this was one of those dinners when the kids said “What’s for dinner?” I said “Hot dog pasta” they looked at me very confused and wasn’t convinced….well it went down so well, that their friends even love it.  I got this recipe from Marcus Waring’s recipe book, but amended it a bit.

Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 70g diced pancetta
• Couple of pinches of onion granules or 1 small onion finely chopped
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 10 frankfurter sausages cut into 2.5cm pieces
• Splash of port (or you can use red wine)
• 1 x 400g passata (or you can use tinned tomatoes)
• Handful of basil, roughly chopped
• Couple of dashes of Worcester sauce
• 1 tbsp oregano
• Salt and pepper
• 400g pasta shapes
• Grated cheese

Method:

1. Heat the oil in a large high-sided frying pan over a medium heat, add the bacon and cook until starting to brown.  Stir in the onion, garlic and frankfurter pieces and cook until the onion is starting to soften and brown (if using onion granules you will only need to cook for a few mins) stir continuously to prevent sticking to the pan.
2. Pour a splash of port into the pan and stir to deglaze, loosening anything on the bottom of the pan.  Stir in the passata (or tomatoes), fill half the tin with water and add that too (should be approx. 200ml), add the basil, Worcester sauce and oregano.  Bring to a simmer and cook for about 10mins.
3. In the meantime, cook the pasta following the packet instructions.
4. When the pasta has cooked, drain and add to the sauce and stir.  Serve immediately with grated cheese on top…..

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