Crabs and Macaroni

When I was a kid growing up in South Philly, there were certain foods that we would always look forward to and enjoy during the summer. There was Pop’s Water Ice, with real chunks of fruit floating in a refreshing cup of icy goodness. There was the pretzel man who would push his wagon up and down the streets, ringing his bell and yelling “soft pretzels!!!” and he would slather the mustard on your pretzel with a paint brush. There was the Mr. Softee ice cream truck that knew to come around the neighborhood blaring it’s famous jingle just as you were finishing up dinner. And then there was my favorite summertime meal – spaghetti and crabs. Just the smell of crab gravy (spaghetti sauce cooked with crabs instead of meatballs for you non South Philly readers) brings me back to when I was a kid – sitting in my parents’ living room on a hot Sunday afternoon, listening to Harry Kalas and Richie Ashburn call a Phillies game on the tv or radio, anxiously waiting to crack a claw or two. These days, I have to settle for the neighborhood Rita’s Water Ice (good, but not Pop’s), there is no more neighborhood pretzel man, and Mr. Softee….well, he now comes around just as we’re starting to eat dinner (damn that jingle!!!). But I still make it a tradition to have at least one Sunday Crabs and Macaroni dinner each summer.

What’s so unique and special about this dish is the amazing flavor that comes together when you cook the crabs in the sauce. Words can’t describe how good it tastes and smells. The sauce also adds an incredible tenderness to the crab meat. Most people I know would call it Spaghetti and Crabs. When my mom would make crab gravy, she would serve it with thin spaghetti and we would dig into the crabs afterwards. They were the reward for eating your entire plate of pasta. She would also use blue crabs that my Grandfather would either catch or buy fresh and send over to our house. I decided on a slightly different approach when I started making my own crab gravy. First, I prefer using either ziti or rigatoni. That’s why I went with the more generic “Crabs and Macaroni,” but feel free to use whatever pasta you like. Second, I like to add a can of crab meat to the sauce for extra flavor*. I also like the fact that you get some meat into the mix with your pasta. Why wait until the end to enjoy the taste? Third, while it’s more expensive, I prefer to use pre-cooked snow crabs that you can find at the seafood section of the supermarket. I always felt that the smaller blue crabs involved a lot of effort with little payoff. The snow crab legs, however, have plenty of meat with much easier access. Feel free to use whatever choice of crab you like best!

Now, if you decide to make this meal (and I encourage you to do so), there are a few things that you should be forewarned about.
1. This is a very messy meal. All shame goes out the window. Shells will be flying and sauce will be splashed. There’s no way around it. With that in mind…
2. Keep plenty of napkins on hand. You can even go rib-shack style and just keep an entire roll of paper towels at the table.
3. Do not wear a white shirt. You will walk away from the table looking like you were involved in a crime scene.
4. No matter how much you wash them, your hands will smell like crabs for the rest of the day. It’s a special meal…savor the funk.

* If you decide to use a can of crab meat, be sure to buy the large 16-oz cans of crab meat that are located in the seafood section of your supermarket. While they can be a bit pricey at times, they are packed with 100% crab meat. The smaller cans that are found near the cans of tuna are packed with about 1/3 water, so you are getting your money’s worth with the larger cans.

Now get crackin’!

1 tblspn olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1 29-oz can tomato sauce
1 28-oz can crushed or pureed tomatoes (depending on your preference), plus 1-1/2 cans of water
1 6-oz can tomato paste
2 tblspn sugar
1 tblspn Italian Seasoning
1/2 tspn Old Bay Seasoning
1 1-lb can of crab meat
2-lbs crabs

Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat until hot, but not smoking. Add garlic, heat for 30 seconds. Add tomato sauce, crushed tomatoes, tomato paste and water; stir. Add sugar, Italian Seasoning, and Old Bay; stir. Bring to boil, the lower heat to medium-low. Add can of crab meat and crabs; stir and partially cover. Stir occasionally. Cook on medium-low for 1-1/2 to 2 hours.

Grilled Caprese-Style Stromboli

This is based on a suggestion from my previous Stromboli post from my paisano, Tiffany Longo (aka Una Mamma Italanio). For tips on rolling Stromboli, check out the previous post.

Delish. Nothing else to say.

1lb. pizza dough
1 12-oz jar roasted peppers, finely chopped and drained.
2 cups pesto (see recipe below)
fresh mozzarella cheese

Roll out dough, but not too thin. The wet ingredients will cause the thin dough to break. Spread the pesto, add the peppers, then sliced mozzarella cheese. Roll up and place on a piece of aluminum foil sprayed with cooking spray (to avoid the dough from sticking). Heat grill to medium high, cook ‘boli on inidrect heat (not directly over the flames) for approx 35-40 minutes, until dough is ice and brown. Remove from heat and let sit for 5 minutes before slicing.

Fresh Basil Pesto Recipe
2 cups fresh basil leaves, packed
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan-Reggiano or Romano cheese
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/3 cup pine nuts or walnuts
3 medium sized garlic cloves, minced
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Combine the basil in with the pine nuts, pulse a few times in a food
processor. (If you are using walnuts instead of pine nuts and they are not
already chopped, pulse them a few times first, before adding the basil.) Add
the garlic, pulse a few times more.

Slowly add the olive oil in a constant stream while the food processor is on. Stop to scrape down the sides of the food processor with a rubber spatula. Add the grated cheese and pulse again until blended. Add a pinch of salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.

Pesto-stuffed Salmon

This is a healthy and tasty recipe that cooks up quick and easy on the grill or broiled in the oven.

4 (5 ounce) salmon fillets
Olive oil
Kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper
1 cup pesto (recipe below, or you can use jarred pesto)

Make a slit two-thirds of the way through the center of each salmon fillet making sure not to cut all the way through. Brush both sides of fillets with olive oil. Stuff fillets with pesto. Season tops of fillets with Kosher salt and ground black pepper.

Grilling: lightly oil grilling grates. Heat grill, then place fillets on medium heat. Cook salmon for 7-10, flipping once, until the fish flakes easily with a fork.

Broiling: Preheat the broiler. Place salmon on a baking sheet lined with foil. Broil fish about 4-5 inches from the heat for approximately 8-10 minutes, until golden brown.

Fresh Basil Pesto Recipe
2 cups fresh basil leaves, packed
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan-Reggiano or Romano cheese
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/3 cup pine nuts or walnuts
3 medium sized garlic cloves, minced
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Combine the basil in with the pine nuts, pulse a few times in a food
processor. (If you are using walnuts instead of pine nuts and they are not
already chopped, pulse them a few times first, before adding the basil.) Add
the garlic, pulse a few times more.

Slowly add the olive oil in a constant stream while the food processor is on. Stop to scrape down the sides of the food processor with a rubber spatula. Add the grated cheese and pulse again until blended. Add a pinch of salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.

Stromboli

If you’ve ever been a guest in our house, either for a party or just to hang out, chances are that at some point you’ve eaten our home-made stromboli. For those of you that may not be familiar with stromboli, it’s similar to a calzone. Instead of being in a pocket-shape, a stromboli is rolled into a long loaf, baked, then sliced into 1″ – 2″ pieces. It’s a popular, often requested dish that we not only serve at our house, but also bring along to parties that we’re invited to as guests. We’ve made strombolis for big vacations with family and friends, for our family’s New Years Eve parties and even for grill-outs (more on that later). It’s our way of breaking bread with friends….only this bread is stuffed with cheese and usually either pepperoni, ham, steak, meatball or spinach. It works well as either an appetizer or as a meal, and it’s not nearly as greasy as one that you may get from a corner pizza shop. They taste best when rolled and cooked fresh, but you can pre-roll them and freeze them for future use. If you are freezing them, be sure to spray them with cooking spray before wrapping them in aluminum foil. This will help avoid the dough from sticking to the foil.

Not to brag, but our home-made stromboli has always been a big hit. The first thing my best buddy John said to me when he first saw my blog was “Almond Asparagus? Post the recipe for the meatball stromboli.” And not a time has gone by when his wife, Manuela, hasn’t berated me for not selling our stromboli. Now, you might be saying, “Yo, Dom…what’s the big deal? You roll out your dough, slap down some meat and cheese, fold it up, bake it and bada-bing…stromboli!”. While the actual steps are about as involved as making a sandwich, the key to ANY good dish is the ingredients. So, what I’ve decided to do for this recipe is to give you step-by-step tips and tricks on what has helped me make good, and even occasionally not-so-good stromboli.

STEP 1: The Dough
The best type of dough to use is pizza dough. You want the dough to bake to a nice, crispy finish and not be too bready. If you don’t make your own pizza dough, your best bet is to find a bakery that sells their own pizza dough. Trader Joe’s sells a great garlic herb pizza dough that works great for a spinach stromboli. If you can’t find fresh pizza dough, you can get frozen pizza dough at the super market. I prefer not to use regular bread dough, as the taste and texture just doesn’t seem to work as well for me.

Prepare 1lb. dough as you would for pizza or bread, letting it rise in a bowl covered with a towel (instructions are usually on the pre-made pizza dough packets). This makes for easy rolling and shaping. Roll out the dough into the shape of a large rectangle. Roll it thin, but not to the point where it breaks apart.

STEP 2: The Fillings
The standard fillings that I use are either pepperoni, ham, thin steak, meatball, sausage or spinach. If you are using a lunchmeat filling, be sure to get it sliced fresh from the deli. You’ll use about 1/4 pound per ‘boli.
Pepperoni – use the large deli-sliced pepperoni as opposed to the small, snack sized pepperoni. It’s easier to work with and you’ll use less.
Ham – any ham of your choice would work, although I prefer tavern ham. Prosciutto would be fantastic, but hey, we’re in a recession!
Steak – when making steak ‘boli, I simply use cooked Minute Steak and season it with salt, pepper and onion powder (you get the onion flavor, but without actual pieces of onion).
Meatball – I like to crush up the cooked meatball and spread it on the dough. I try not to use too much sauce, because it makes the dough soggy and hard to work with. You can always serve with a bowl of sauce on the side for dipping.
Sausage – I’ve only made this once, but it was a big hit. I used ground sausage out of it’s casing, spread it on a pan and baked it until slightly crispy, then mixed it with roasted red peppers. Nice!
Spinach – this one goes over well with those that don’t eat red meat. I use a box of frozen spinach, defrosted and strained (strain it by using a kitchen towel – you lose the water without losing any of the spinach). Spread it evenly over the dough and top with garlic and onion powder.
I’ve tried using jarred mixed vegetables in a tomato sauce once, but had bad results. The sauce turned the dough into a pile of mush. Not good.
Another filling that I’m thinking of using down the line is thin sliced turkey with bacon bits.

STEP 3: The Cheese
I always use two cheeses, mozzarella and provolone. They both melt nicely, and the provolone adds a bit of a bite. Deli sliced is the best way to go, but you can also buy a bag of mixed shredded provolone and mozzarella, which works well. I might go with Swiss if/when I make the turkey and bacon ‘boli.

STEP 4: Assembly
After you’ve rolled out your dough, spread your filling on top, then add your cheese. Gently roll from left to right, then tuck the ends under to seal off. Spray the top with a cooking spray, or brush with an egg wash. Sprinkle the top with oregano. Cut a few slits across on the top to avoid massive air bubbles.

STEP 5: Cooking
The traditional method is to bake. Spray a baking pan with cooking spray, place the ‘bolis on the pan and bake at 400º for 30 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool for a few minutes, then slice and serve
Grilled – yes, I have tried grilling stromboli last year at my in-law’s Labor Day BBQ Block Party, and yes it was damn good! The crispy crunch of the crust was out of this world. I grilled both pepperoni and ham ‘bolis. The pep was the better of the two, but I think that had to do with timing on the grill. I simply placed the ‘boli on a sheet of aluminum foil sprayed with cooking spray, and cooked them over medium-high indirect heat (if you have a 3-burner grill, fire up the left and right burners, and place the ‘boli over the center burner). I plan on experimenting with grilled ‘bolis a lot more this summer.

SAUCES
Like I mentioned above, I don’t prefer adding sauces to the ‘bolis because they tend to make the dough soggy. I prefer serving a side dish of sauce for dipping. Ketchup works well with the steak ‘boli. And if I ever decide to do the turkey/bacon/swiss cheese ‘boli, I’m thinking a side of ranch or blue cheese will do the trick.

So there you have it…’boli 101. Give it a try, experiment with the filling, crack open a beer and enjoy!