Spaghetti Pie

Yield/Serve = 6-8 people

INGREDIENTS: 

5 quarts water

1 lb Spaghetti/Thin Linguine

4-5 eggs

½-1 cup parmesan/pecorino grated cheese

Salt to taste

Pepper to taste

2 tbsp olive oil

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Bring 5 quarts of water to a boil in a large pot

2. Add 1-2 tbsp salt to the water, mix

3. Add the spaghetti or thin linguine to the water and cook al dente according to the directions on the box

   1. Normally 1-3 minutes off of the recommended time

4. Once the pasta is done cooking, strain the pasta and run under cold water to cool off the spaghetti

5. While the pasta is cooling off, grab a medium mixing bowl

6. In the bowl mix together the eggs, cheese, salt, and pepper

7. Put the pasta in the same bowl as the mixture and mix it all together

8. Get a large frying pan and heat olive oil over medium heat

9. Put the mixture into the frying pan and cover until golden brown 

10. When the bottom is golden brown, take a dinner plate, replace it with the cover, then flip the pan so that the spaghetti is now in the dish, then slide it back into the pan so that the other side can cook until this side is also golden brown (around 5 mins)

11. Remove from heat, let it cool for 10 mins, top with some extra cheese, cut into 6-8 pieces,  enjoy!

For me, the recipe is spaghetti pie, which I have cooked with my grandma for as long as I can remember. She never wrote down any recipe she cooked, so the only way for my family to remember the recipe was to write it down ourselves. As I was looking through my recipe book I found about 3 different copies of this recipe written from when I was 5-6 years old because I loved it so much and wanted to always make it. 

Growing up there were 3 people that I always cooked with that allowed me to fall in love with it, my dad and both of my grandmas. I used to look up to them wondering when it was going to be my time to be like them. We would cook together for holidays, when we went to visit, or even if we were just bored. That said, when I cooked with my moms mom spaghetti pie was always a staple in the meal. I always thought that everyone had experienced the delicious, tasty spaghetti pie that I had, but I soon realized that some people have never even heard of this nor tried it. 

My grandmother immigrated to the US from Italy when she was 16. She only went to school up to her sophomore year in highschool and the rest of her life she spent working in restaurants and owning liquor stores. The recipes that she knows and shared with my family were the recipes that she grew up with. This is why she is so special. All of the food that she cooks comes from memory because she knows what it is supposed to taste like and look like, so she does it all from what she knows and not what is written down (it is never written down). 

Being from an Italian family, there is no food that is better than the food that we make with love and purpose. Every year, when my grandparents get back from their winter in Florida this is the first meal we make together and the last meal that we eat together before they leave to go back. I remember all of the times that we would make this just so that we could make our leftovers for dinner that night more delicious, whether it was putting chicken and peppers or even steak she always had a special touch that made you drool watching and smelling it being cooked then tasted amazing when it first hits your mouth. My siblings and I used to fight over who would be the one to crack the eggs or mix the pasta with the crooked wooden spoon that was so old, but too important to be thrown away. I remember standing next to my grandma as she would touch the hot stove, hot pans, and hot food and being in awe thinking she was superwomen. Now, as she is not in the same condition as she was years ago, my dad and I have taken the responsibility of trying to be the chef as she was. We will repeatedly cook her meatballs, her baked clams, or her ricotta trying to get the perfect taste that she always accomplished. However, we know that this recipe is one that we can always get right because we learned from the best time after time.