- 8 ounces spaghetti (I use thin spaghetti – but not angel hair which would break too easily; feel free to use gluten-free spaghetti if needed)
- 6 hot dogs or 1 (12-ounce) package cooked sausages*
- 2 tablespoons butter or olive oil
- 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan
Threaded Hot Dog or Sausage Spaghetti (aka "Spider Dogs")
Yield: 4 servings
If preferred, you can toss the cooked pasta with your favorite sauce in place of the butter and Parmesan.
Ingredients
Instructions
- Slice the hot dogs or sausages into bite-size pieces (I get 7 pieces each), and break about half (4 ounces) of the noodles in half.
- Carefully thread 6 pieces of the broken spaghetti through each hot dog piece. (I stick 3 noodles through each side so there are long strands extending from both directions, although one noodle more or less won’t hurt – and, yes, spiders do technically have 8 legs!) The remaining pasta will be cooked as plain old noodles.
- As you’re threading the hot dogs, bring a large pot of salted water to boil and then cook the pasta (the plain strands andthe threaded ones) according to the package directions (about 9-10 minutes for thin spaghetti).
- Drain and toss with the butter or olive oil. Serve with a sprinkle of Parmesan.
Notes
*For those who prefer to use uncured meats, I recently used a 12-ounce (6-count) package of Maverick Ranch Natural Beef Franks, which were quite good. I’ve also used Bell & Evans and Applegate chicken sausages (available in a variety of flavors) to many positive reviews. I think kielbasa would taste good, too.
A few more things…
•If you’d like to work some colorful veggies into the mix, add frozen peas to the spaghetti during the last few minutes of cooking time.
•Depending on age of children and what is served on the side, some families may enjoy 6 servings out of this meal.