Savory Filipino-style Pasta Sauce

Meaty pasta sauce with an Asian twist.

You hungry yet?

 

     Yeheyyy! It's a weekend of no work and that means preparing food that will last a couple days for my family. This is such a simple yet popular dish that in my culture is a must have and is always present at gatherings, parties most especially at birthdays or fiestas. Most Filipinos put slices of "red" hotdogs as the meat for this sauce but I prefer to stick to the usual meatballs and/or Italian sausage meat, and always try to find ways to fuse or incorporate a Filipino twist in popular dishes from other countries. This is my version of the typical pasta sauce marrying it with elements of our Filipino spaghetti sauce. It's sweet, it's savory... it's really good!

Ingredients:

3 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 large onion, diced

66 oz (4lb 2oz) Ragu Traditional pasta sauce

12 oz Jufran Banana Sauce (banana ketchup)

1 lb Johnsonville Mild Italian sausage meat

1 bag (1 lb 10oz) Rosina Meatballs Italian style, fully cooked

1/4 c fish sauce

1tsp Kosher salt

1 tbsp sugar

pepper to taste

*Note -  the salt plus fish sauce may seem intimidating especially because it's a double dose, but I promise once you top or mix this with your pasta of choice the saltiness will tone down and you will just love the sweet-savory taste of this dish as a whole!

Let's cook...

• in a 5 quart sauce pan, add Canola oil and saute garlic till lightly brown and onions (add a pinch of salt) cook till translucent.
• add in sausage meat and using a potato masher or rubber spatula, mash to separate the meat. Cook on low-med heat for around 7 minutes stirring occasionally.
• add in the meatballs and cook on low for another 5 minutes.
• pour in the pasta sauce and increase heat to medium. Add a cup of water into the empty pasta container, close the lid and shake to wash off remaining sauce along the inside. Pour into the pan, then add the whole bottle of banana ketchup. Simmer till the sauce starts to lightly bubble.
• adjust the heat to low, add in the fish sauce, salt and sugar. Continue to cook for around 20 minutes. 
• the only thing left to do is cook your pasta of choice according to instructions, cover it with this meaty sauce, serve and enjoy with a side of salad and/or with garlic bread.
• serves 10-12

CHEERS!