Filipino Style Macaroni Dish

Craving for pasta recipe? Here's one easy to cook that I'll be sharing with you. My kids loved its taste, precious and priceless as compared to restaurants and fast food chains. Instead of using spaghetti noodles, I used elbow macaroni. It's been one of the favorite foods during parties and any occasion. I consider this as a comfort food for children, especially to my youngest that is very choosy and extremely difficult to feed.

*History of Macaroni

Macaroni is a variety of dry pasta made with durum wheat. Elbow macaroni noodles normally do not contain eggs, (although they may be an optional ingredient) and are normally cut in short, hollow shapes; however, the term refers not to the shape of the pasta, but to the kind of dough from which the noodle is made. Although home machines exist that can make macaroni shapes, macaroni is usually made commercially by large-scale extrusion. The curved shape is caused by the different speeds on either side of the pasta tube as it comes out of the machine. The name derives from Italian maccheroni, however Italians use maccheroni to refer to any form of pasta, whatever the shape, whether it is straight, tubular, two-inch or longer pasta. A different name, chifferi orlumaconi, refers to the elbow-shape pasta of this article.

According to legend, macaroni was brought to Italy by Marco Polo, returning to Venicefrom China in 1292. This hypothesis has long been disproved, since it seems that macaroni was already used in Italy at least a century before, like pasta in general; Moroccan geographer Muhammad al-Idrisi, who lived in Sicily, documented macaroni in Sicily and in particular in Trabia.
*Source: Wikipedia

Ingredients:

• 200 g Elbow Macaroni (snack pack)
• 1 Can 150 g Corned Beef
• Hotdog or Chicken Franks, sliced
• 250 g Spaghetti Sauce (sweet style or Filipino style)
• Onions, minced
• Garlic, minced
• Basil leaves
• Oregano leaves
• Grated cheese (cheddar of parmesan)
• Cooking Oil
• Sugar (optional, for added flavors)

Cooking Procedure:

1. Pour water in a medium sized pot, put in the stove then bring to a boil.
2. Put some salt and 1 tbsp of cooking oil.
3. Cook pasta according to instructions seen at the back label of the packaging.
4. Stir pasta to prevent from sticking, cook until tender or 'al dente'.
5. Drain then set aside.
6. In a separate sauce pan, sauté garlic and onions.
7. Add corned beef and hotdog, cook for 2 minutes.
8. Seasoned with pepper, basil leaves, and oregano (I used McCormick).
9. Put spaghetti sauce then simmer for 5 minutes.
10. Remove from heat.
11. Put sauce on top of macaroni and add grated cheese.
12. Serve and enjoy!