THE CHEF FROM HELL

Ahhh...spaghetti pie!  I first had a dish like this in a funky little cafe somewhere in St. Petersburg, Florida back in the late 70's.  I remember three things about the cafe where I had my first taste of spaghetti pie -- 1) the Dean Martin song "Everybody Needs Somebody Sometime" kept playing over and over on the jukebox (somebody mourning a romantic break-up perhaps?)  2) My waitress (Sally was her name I think) wore an eyepatch over her left eye that had the following message imprinted on it: "What'll Ya Have?"  3 )The spaghetti pie had a wonderful intense flavor, the intensity of the fresh crabmeat playing nicely off of the smoked mozzarella flavors.  Here's a recreation of that pie -- (this recipe goes out to Sally wherever she may be!)

Ingredients:

8 0z fresh lump Crabmeat

1/4 cup grated Romano Cheese

1 TBS Big Heat Spice Mix

Note: Big Heat Spice is my own cajun spice mix I created years ago; for the recipe go to The Spice Of Life

2 large Eggs

1/2 cup Whole Milk

2 TBS Unsalted Butter

1 small Spanish Onion, diced

2 stalks Celery, diced

1/2 cup Mushrooms, diced

3 TBS Maderia Wine

1/2 lb cooked shrimp, chopped coarse

1/4 cup Crawfish Tails, chopped coarse

1/2 lb Spaghetti, cooked al dente

1 1/2 cups grated Smoked Mozzarella Cheese

Dry Spice Mix:

1/4 tsp Basil

1/4 tsp Thyme

1/4 tsp Kosher Salt

1 pinch Ground Nutmeg

1 pinch Ground White Pepper

Cooking Procedure:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees

Pick through the crabmeat & discard any bits of shell fragments you find

Set the crabmeat aside

In a small bowl, combine the romano cheese & the big heat spice mix

Mix this well & set aside

In another small bowl, combine the ingredients for the dry spice mix

Mix this well & set aside

In yet another small bowl, combine the eggs & milk

Whisk this egg wash well & set aside

In a large skillet, melt the butter over medium high heat

Add the onions & celery

Sautee the onions until they begin to turn clear & soften

Add the crabmeat, mushrooms & the dry spice mix

Stir well & cook this down, while stirring, for 2 minutes

Add the wine to the skillet

Stir well

Let this cook down until the mushrooms begin to soften

Reduce heat to medium low

Add the shrimp & crawfish

Stir well & let this cook for 5 minutes

Remove the skillet from the heat & let the mixture in the skillet cool down for 20 minutes

Affter the skillet mixture has cooled down:

In a large mixing bowl, toss the pasta with the seasoned romano cheese & then add the mixture from the skillet

Mix well

Grease an 8 inch pie plate with some non-stick coating spray or vegetable oil

Fold the pasta mixture from the mixing bowl into the pie plate

Pour the egg wash evenly over the top of the pasta mixture

Using your hands, press down firmly across the top of the pie

Spread the mozzarella cheese across the top of the pie & place the pie in the oven

Bake the pie for 40 to minutes

The top of the pie should be golden brown & a toothpick inserted into the center of the pie should come out clean

Let the pie cool for 15 minutes before slicing portions