This one's for Angie . . . yes . . . She who taunted me yesterday with the words . . .
"Holey Socks, woman, you'll have us eating chips out of newspaper soon!"
Spaghetti on Toast is a popular supper dish over here in the UK . . . simple, easy, cheap and something that the children really love, and a mainstay for poor and hungry students living in bedsits.
Oddly enough, even Todd (who hates regular pasta) loves Spaghetti on toast. It is rather wierd I think.
When I was a child my mother would feed us tinned spaghetti occasionally. We always had it with bread and butter and cooked hotdogs. It was a real treat!
I had never heard of ladling it over hot toast before I moved here, and . . . just like everything else . . . I had to put my own twist on it. It can't be plain old toast for me. It has to be grilled toast, with slabs of sliced strong cheddar cheese placed on one side and then grilled until all toasted and bubbling . . .
Then you simply place them onto heated plates and ladle the hot spaghetti over top.
With a good grinding of black pepper on top, it's a fab supper, that yes . . . even I resort to from time to time Angie!
It's a no brainer really . . . hot toasted cheese with hot tinned spaghetti ladled over top.
Don't knock it. It's really very good.
(All in good fun folks. I love, LOVE Angie! She's one of my bestest friends and texting buddies!)
I've never had spaghetti on toast, Marie--looks interesting! My daughter thinks it looks great! Another one we'll be giving a try!
ReplyDeleteHope you're having a wonderful day, my friend! Much love sent your way...
Un nuovo modo di servire gli spaghetti, :) ciao a presto stefania
ReplyDeleteKeith really does love this! Anything on toast - BUTTERED toast I might add - and you can make him do anything. He'll stand on his head and whistle dixie if that's what it takes!!
ReplyDeleteAmericans - and most Europeans, come to that - just don't get this 'on toast' concept do they? Therefore this 'recipe' truly belongs in The English Kitchen. It's a triumph!
love, A, xx
I am laughing SO hard! My kids would probably LOVE this!
ReplyDeletexoxo Pattie
oh my ! I love pasta. Just love it.
ReplyDeleteI've never tried spagetti on toast before ! Yummers !
First, I have to say that I have NEVER met anyone who "hates pasta!" {sorry Todd, sad but true} Secondly, I absolutely KNOW that my kids would love this. I now have another idea to add to my repertoire of meals that we eat when my hubby is away traveling and it is just the three of us....you know those meals, like scrambled eggs or waffles for dinner! I'm picking up a can of spaghetti today when I'm at the market and I DO thank you for the inspiration. xx P&H
ReplyDeleteAhh nostalgia! Did you have seven plates of the stuff? ;)
ReplyDeleteThat is truly a blast from the past! My dad used to give me tinned spaghetti on toast but he added grated cheese to the spaghetti as it was heating. Fab!!!
ReplyDeleteA Scottish friend of mine told me about Oh's on toast so I guess it's the same thing just a different shaped pasta....never had it but it does look quite good
ReplyDeleteMy friend is from the UK and she told me about this dish. Maybe you have to grow up with it to appreciate it.
ReplyDeleteI seem to only eat tinned pasta once every couple of years.....but with the addition of cheese toast, maybe I will have it a bit more often!!
ReplyDeleteMy mother used to also feed us tinned spaghetti on toast (Newfoundlanders are so "Old Country"). But I'm afraid, it was one meal that I wouldn't touch.
ReplyDeleteNow homemade spaghetti ..... hmmm! I might give that a try on toast.
This was an old faithful of my childhood. Every weekend I would get spaghetti on toast - slight variation on your theme though. Big slices of hot buttered toast with the spaghetti piled on top and a very healthy sprinkling of parmesan cheese ;0)
ReplyDeleteMmmmmmmmmmmmmm
Hmmmmmm, interesting. I can't seem to wrap my American/Israeli head around this one, no matter how many British husbads I collect. Now, beans on toast, that's another story, yummm!
ReplyDeletePersonally I prefer baked beans and cheese on toast (and I like my cheese on top of the beans - which should go on top can be highly controversial but if you put the whole dish under the grill before serving you want the cheese on top). It's also pretty much my favourite topping for a baked potato.
ReplyDeleteAs for the question of hating pasta, one of my (English) grandmothers won't eat it on principle because it's foreign food; she's just barely come around to the idea of the use of olive oil! I'm only in my 30s and in my family (growing up in England) we rarely had pasta before I was a teenager and if we did there was only macaroni or spaghetti. It was generally just potato and bread for our starches.
My daughter misses living in London so much. I went right out and bought a canned of tinned spaghetti rings to make this for her to cheer her up, poor kid. It is funny how some sinple things can just bring you back.
ReplyDeleteYum! Im from New Zealand and grew up eating Spaghetti on Toast! (Watties or Heinz)
ReplyDeleteI now live in the States and am 7.5 mths pregnant and my co-workers saw me eating it for breakfast this morning at work and are convinced it is some kind of truely bizzare preggo craving..?!?!! LOL! Wow.
Anyway Mum used to make "Mouse traps"..another delicious version of spaghetti on toast:
Always cook spaghetti with a knob of butter by the way....SO good! I also add bacon bits or real bacon chopped up!!
Pile spaghetti onto thick cut toasted french bread (or regular toast) topped with grated cheese and Oragano. Sometimes she would add chopped pineapple and finely chopped onion too...yum! They were like mini pizzas with the spaghettin serving as the tomatoe sauce.
ENJOY!
I actually first saw spaghetti on toast in a manga! Naru was eating it in Love Hina at one point, but she was eating it like a sandwich.
ReplyDeleteThat spaghetti sauce looks so soupy and yummy...what brand is it?
It's Heinz of course! lol
ReplyDeleteI've never heard of a heinz spaghetti sauce....I always use ragu.
ReplyDeleteIt's not real spaghetti Anonymous that you make from scratch it's this:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.britsuperstore.com/acatalog/Heinz_Spahetti.html
D'oh. D:
ReplyDeleteI can't believe this is considered good. This is disgusting!!! There is no nutrition in this and must be a major factor in UK and NZ obesity.
ReplyDeleteSome 'food' is just not meant for human consumption.
Wow, haters gonna hate! It's delicious, and I'm as skinny as ever! And yes, I'm a human. That is proof that it IS meant for 'human consumption'. You just hatin' on delicious meals.
DeleteThere is just no pleasing some people Yanderesupafan!
DeleteObviously Tracy this is not up your alley! I am from the don't knok it until you try it school. Oh and I would say that there is some nutritional value in this and without the cheese, it's not even alal that high in calories. I would think that sausage rolls, meat pies, chips, takeaway curries and lack of exercise are more to blame for any obesity problems over here than spaghetti on toast!
ReplyDeleteI certainly agree with you about the poor dietary content of chips, pies, sausage rolls, etc. But having said that I can't agree with the don't knock it until you try it point. Just think cocaine....try it? Okay, that's a bit extreme, but I am going to get a can of spaghetti and look at the nutritional content. Specifically sugar, protein and vitamin content. Then am going to look at a package of white bread and do the same. I fear the real nutritional content will be lacking, but there will be plenty of empty calories.
ReplyDeleteOf course kids love this. They would love to dine on Crunchie bars too. This is full of sugar.
Just to qualify my bias, I work in a food research intstitute in NZ and constantly fight the big food machines that foist this kind of non-food o us.
I'll save you the trouble Tracy. Taken from the tin:
ReplyDeleteEnergy 244 kcal
Protein 4 g
Total lipid (fat) 0 g
Carbohydrate 52 g
Fiber, total dietary 0g
And from the Heinz site:
Heinz Spaghetti has been bringing smiles of contentment to generations of food lovers since 1926. Made from Durum wheat pasta and juicy, tomato sauce it seems almost as British as tea and biscuits. All our varieties of Spaghetti are low in fat, low in sugar and free from preservatives, colourings and flavour enhancers.
They could not make that claim if it was not true.
I think you are missing the whole point here. This particular dish was not touted as a paragon of virtue and I would not even recommend it as a nightly source of nutrition, I was simply presenting it as a quick and easy and fun when someone was short on time and energy. I'm sure if you added a tasty salad on the side that would be quite a healthy addition.
PS - You needn't be limited to using white bread either. Stone Ground whole wheat is also very tasty. Whatever floats your boat. And yes, the comment on using cocaine was certainly stretching it a bit as we were talking about food here, not illegal substances!
ReplyDeleteOH, and for the record, I am a fully trained and qualified chef, who has worked for many years in a private kitchen. I do know the difference between nutritional meals and junk food. This is not a non food. There are many families out there today who are really feeling the financial pinch and this serves as a "not so unhealthy" alternative for them as an occasional meal to help stretch the food budget just a little bit further.
ReplyDeleteWith cheese on toast for the base, it's almost gourmet!
ReplyDeleteI'm used to regular buttered toast for mine.
No, it's not a nutritional goldmine.
It is delicious and filling, however.
Can't believe that anyone finds it strange, though.
Many (most?) restaurants are fond of serving complimentary garlic bread with a plate of spaghetti. This just eliminates the middle-man...erm... Cuts to the chase... Or whatever cliche you feel like using.
Am I the only one who absolutely LOVES Spaghetti on toast? When I was just a babe, I called it 'Spaghetti on Toast with Cheese on the Top', and my Dad would always purposely get the name mixed up, just to tease me! This brings me back to my childhood! I'm only 13, after all!
ReplyDeleteSounds like you have a great dad Yanderesupafan! I love this stuff and I think I will crack open a can of it tonight, just to celebrate! Thanks for your positive comment!
DeleteI totally agree this is a lovely snack. Try it with a fried egg between the cheese and the spaghetti! Trust me it is fabulous! Xps I always top mine with little spots of hp brown sauce. Phenomenally good!
ReplyDeleteSounds fabulous! Mom always served this with fried hotdogs. We loved the smokiness of the hotdogs with the spaghetti. I love brown sauce!
DeleteThis is why so much British food is horrible- carbs on carbs. Ugh.
ReplyDeleteI would say by your comment you are quite ignorant about British food in general. It’s not all spaghetti, beans or scrambled egg on toast. There is a plethora of delicious food in the U.K. and they have some of the finest produce, meats, fish, poultry, cheeses, etc. It’s also a wonderful amalgamation of world flavours and cuisines. If you think it’s all about carbs then I think you are sadly mistaken or hanging around with the wrong people.
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