Spaghetti Doughnuts? Maybe Just Stick to Spaghetti

What’s your opinion on the spaghetti doughnut? Do you even have an opinion? Does anything matter?

Yesterday, news broke that the spaghetti doughnut would be one of many new entries at Smorgasburg, the popular open-air food market in Brooklyn that's usually filled with a hypertension-inducing congestion of people. Created by vendor Pop Pasta, the spaghetti doughnut is, at first glance, one of those Frankenstein foods seemingly engineered to go viral.

It has inspired spirited outrage in the process. Its mere existence as a foodstuff seems to offend people. The spaghetti doughnut is an encrusted spaghetti pie, essentially, shaped in the likeness of a doughnut. It’s offered in a coterie of different flavors, from Red Sauce Pop (made of spaghetti, parmesan, eggs, tomato puree, olive oil, and salt) and Bolognese Pop (that same makeup as the Red Sauce Pop, plus ground beef).

I guess I get this reaction—the particular cohabitation of these two objectively good foods in the same dish may give pause to many people. But everyone, please calm down. I’m sure spaghetti doughnuts taste good, and dismissing it offhand as "weird" feels lazy. Besides, spaghetti adapts to different milieus; it’s versatile. Spaghetti means different things to different people across the world, a food as varied and rich as the cuisine of Italy. You can bake it in paper; or make it squashy or cabbage-y; or put it in a frittata.

When it comes to the spaghetti doughnut, I’ll reserve my judgment until I actually put it in my mouth. In the meantime, I'll satisfy my curiosity with these 15 spaghetti recipes.

What's your favorite kind of spaghetti? Let us know in the comments.