Deep Dish Spaghetti Pie

 

I came across a recipe for Spaghetti Pie in the Washington Post. While I found the bones of the recipe to be excellent, I knew I would have to modify it to bring it more in line with my personal preferences. I loved the idea of using spaghetti as the pie crust, but the recipe called for just 4 ounces of spaghetti. I love spaghetti, so a measly 4 ounces violated my core principal of "Go Big or Go Home".

Second, the meat sauce was more on the mild side (and way too little of it to satisfy my appetite). So I amped up the flavor profile and increased the amount of meat in the sauce. Finally, it called for using cottage cheese as one of the layers...which brought back all of the horrors of my mother's culinary skills which were inflicted upon me in my youth. She used to serve my family cottage cheese on an iceberg lettuce leaf and called it salad. Suffice it to say that not a single drop of cottage cheese has passed my lips in the last 60 years.

The final modification I made was the cooking vessel. The Washington Post recipe called for using a regular pie tin. But given that I had substantially up the quantity of ingredients and was aiming for  a "deep dish" pie, I switched to a cheesecake pan. I love these pans as they are non-stick and you can just unbuckle the sidewalls to slice your pie. If you are interested in looking at and researching these pans, go to Amazon and type these words into their search field: Cheesecake Springform Pan (they run around $15.)

Now if you don't want to do a deep dish and want to use a regular pie tin, you can follow the recipe but I would cut all of the ingredients in half. And it is important to rest the pie for 10 minutes after you take it out of the oven. This allows the pie to firm up and it will give you perfect slices that look just like the photo at the top of the page.

INGREDIENTS

8 ounces dried spaghetti

2 tablespoons butter

2 eggs, beaten

1/2 cup parmesan cheese

2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided

2 tablespoons olive oil

16 ounces hot Italian sausage, removed from casings

 6 ounces sliced fresh button mushrooms

1 small onion, chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

One, 14.5 ounce can of tomato sauce

One, 14.5 ounce can of diced tomatoes, drained

2 tablespoons Italian seasoning

1 teaspoon salt

DIRECTIONS

1. Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350º. Spray bottom of cheesecake pan with cooking oil.
2. Bring a medium pot of lightly salted water to a boil over high heat. Cook the spaghetti according to package directions until al dente, then drain. Return the spaghetti to the pot and stir in the butter until melted. Stir in the eggs and parmesan cheese until combined. Place mixture in bottom of cheesecake pan and press it into the bottom and up the sides of the plate, forming a crust. Spread 1 cup of mozzarella over the top of the spaghetti.
3. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet until it shimmers. Add the sausage, mushrooms, onion and garlic and cook, stirring, until the meat is broken up and browned and the onion and mushrooms are tender, about 8 minutes. Stir in the tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, Italian seasoning and salt. Heat and stir until warm, about 5 minutes. Add the mixture to the cheesecake pan on top of the mozzarella and spaghetti. Then spread the remaining 1 cup of mozzarella on top of the meat mixture.

4. Bake for 30 minutes. For neater slices, allow the pie to rest for 10 minutes before cutting into six wedges. Then serve.

   
   

   
   

   

   
   

   
   

   Wine pairing: Chianti Classico

   
   

   
   

   

   
   
   

   
   
   

   
   
   
   

Cast Iron Hash Brown Pie

 

If you have overnight house guests to watch the Super Bowl tomorrow, they are going to need a hearty breakfast before you serve them up some sliders. And to me, a breakfast is not a breakfast unless it involves some hash browns and sausages. And thanks to this awesome recipe from America's Test Kitchen, breakfast will be a great mash-up of hash browns and sausages and eggs....all cooked to a beautiful crispy brown in your cast iron skillet.

INGREDIENTS

1/4 cup vegetable oil

8 ounces breakfast sausage, casings removed

1 pound frozen shredded hash browns, thawed

6 eggs

4 scallions, sliced thin

1/4 teaspoon pepper

6 ounces shredded cheddar cheese

DIRECTIONS

1. Heat 10-inch cast-iron skillet over medium heat for 5 minutes. Add 3 tablespoons oil and heat until shimmering. Add sausage and cook, breaking up meat with wooden spoon, until no longer pink, about 3 minutes. Add hash browns and cook, turning occasionally, until lightly browned and crispy, about 15 minutes.
2. Beat eggs, scallions and pepper together with fork in large bowl until thoroughly combined and mixture is pure yellow. Gently fold in potato mixture and cheddar.
3. Heat remaining 1 tablespoon oil in now-empty skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Add egg mixture and cook, shaking skillet and folding mixture constantly for 15 seconds. Smooth top of egg mixture, cover and cook, gently shaking skillet occasionally, until bottom is golden brown and top is lightly set, about 4 minutes.
4. Off heat, run heat-resistant rubber spatula around edge of skillet to loosen pie. Slide pie onto large plate, then invert onto second large plate and slide back into skillet with browned side up. Tuck edges of pie into skillet with spatula. Continue to cook over medium heat until second side is golden and eggs are cooked through, about 2 minutes. Using spatula, slide pie onto cutting board and let cool slightly. Cut pie into wedges and serve warm.

Pairing: Bloody Mary

French Dip Sliders

 

One week from tomorrow we will finally have reached the Super Bowl. Philly versus KC. I don't know about you, but I was a big fan of the 49er's Brock Purdy Cinderella story. Nicknamed Mr. Irrelevant....last player picked in the 2022 draft...third on the 49er's QB depth chart. Comes off the bench and wins seven straight, only to have the fairy tale crushed by a nasty elbow injury in the NFC championship game. Sad ending, but he was so fun to watch.

Last week I introduced you to Beef Brisket Sliders. This week it's French Dip Sliders...which are the cheapest and least labor-intensive way to feed a crowd. This recipe is so damn delicious and is your golden path to winning friends and influencing people. Take a quick look in the mirror and you will realize you can't do that on your own.

The key to pulling this off is this cut of beef...Eye of Round. It is one of the least expensive beef roasts you can buy ($4.69 per pound at Costco). It has no fat in it, which makes it one of the leanest cuts you can buy. But the trick to cooking this roast is that is must come out of the oven medium-rare. If it is cooked to medium or higher.....you will have entered the realm of cardboard.

And don't screw around when it comes to the Au Jus! Nothing holds a candle to the king of dipping sauces....you have to buy Johnny's French Dip. You'll find it in the condiment section of your grocery store. Once you've tasted this dipping sauce, I guarantee you that it will have a permanent place in your pantry!

INGREDIENTS

One, 3-pound Eye of Round beef roast
Kosher salt

Fresh ground black pepper

One 8-ounce bottle Johnny's French Dip Concentrated Sauce

18 King's Hawaiian Original Sweet Hawaiian Slider Buns

DIRECTIONS

1. Remove roast from refrigerator and place on a plate on your kitchen counter. Let rest for 4 hours to come to room temperature.
2. Preheat oven to 500º.
3. Place roast in a roasting pan or cast iron skillet. Season roast generously with salt and pepper. Place roast in oven and let it cook for 15 minutes (5 minutes per pound).
4. After 15 minutes, turn oven off. Do not open the oven door. Leave roast to continue cooking, undisturbed, for 2 hours.
5. Prepare Johnny's French Dip according to package instructions.
6. After the 2 hours are up, remove roast from oven. Cut roast in very thin slices and add roughly 2-1/2 ounces of meat to each slider bun. Serve with Johnny's French Dip.

Pairing: Cabernet Sauvignon