People think BBC has declared war on Italy with ham and pineapple spaghetti recipe

There are some recipes that seem blasphemous when discussing Italian food.

There's hundreds of years of tradition bound up in recipes passed down from generation to generation, and messing with them can spark fiery debates in Italy.

One infamous example is the debate over whether it's acceptable to put pineapple on pizza - and you're not going to make many friends in Naples if you think it is.

But now there's a new recipe row to ponder, after the BBC shared a new ham and pineapple spaghetti concoction, sparking hilarious reactions online.

"BREAKING: The BBC declares war on Italy," wrote journalist Chaminda Jayanetti.

The recipe on the website describes the dish as "A family-friendly pasta recipe that makes the most of tinned foods. If your kids love Hawaiian pizza then this ham and pineapple pasta is a great twist to try for a quick mid-week dinner."

Perhaps even more outrageous is one step of the recipe, which involves adding pineapple juice to the sauce.

"Drain the pineapple, reserving the juice. Add the cream cheese and pineapple chunks to the onion and garlic, along with half the juice. Cook together for 2–3 minutes, or until the cheese melts and the pineapple pieces are hot. Add the remaining juice and heat through gently," reads one of the steps.

"I told you that pineapple on pizza was a slippery slope. But did you listen? No. And look where it got us," said one Twitter user in the replies.

Someone else said, "Alexa, show me a new and exciting way to upset all Italians in my vicinity."

"I urge my fellow Italians to exercise restraint in the face of this blatant provocation," wrote another person.

"Ordinarily, I'm a firm believer in the "Let them fight" philosophy but the past months have made it clear that sometimes blatant aggression from an unjustified force needs to be met with unity from the world community, lest that aggression expand to other regions unchecked," said another person.

So, what do you think—will you be trying it?

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