The Phat Italian

I grew up as part of a loud Italian family.  Much of that upbringing involved some interesting comfort food.  Nope, we ain’t talkin mac & cheese or pizza here.  I’m talking reeeeeal old school Italian-American stuff that the grandmas (or nonnas) made back in the day.  This is my ultimate fat-kid special.

Brace your hearts…

Yes friends, we are talking fried hotdogs and potatoes.

You can’t even imagine how good this tastes.  I’m not even a “hotdog person” if I go to a barbecue.  I’m usually a burger girl.  This meal trumps everything. And it was put on the request list for dinner at casa FSL for months my husband.  Last night was the big night.

It’s traditionally made with plain old brown potatoes, but I put a little twist on it by using 3 different kinds of potatoes. 4 Red skinned golden, 2 baby reds, and 1 large sweet potato.

Chop those guys up so they are all about the same size and on the thin side.

Pour about 2 T extra virgin olive oil into a wok (it’s the only frying pan that will fit this much stuff).  Keep it on med-hi heat.

Put the potatoes in when the oil is hot.  You’ll know it is heated when you can drip a tiny bit of water in it and it sizzles.

(watch out for splattering)

Toss the potatoes in and give them a good stir, making sure they are all coated in the oil.

Potatoes take a while to cook, so while those babies are hanging out in the pan, let’s talk hotdogs.

There is only one kind of hotdog I will use to make this recipe.  Hummels. You have to order them at the deli counter.  They aren’t pre-packaged, and they are in natural casing. I bought a pound.

Then, I sliced those up and put them into a large frying pan (over medium heat) with about a tablespoon of olive oil.

Insert punch line *here*  hee hee!

Keep moving those potatoes around every so often to insure even cooking.

Add crushed red pepper, salt, and pepper to taste. I cook mine until they are crispy.

I also cook the hotdogs until they are crispy.