Spaghetti Pancake: It's Better Than it Sounds

Spaghetti Pancake is one of a handful of comfort foods that I've been eating since my childhood. From what I can tell, it probably comes from an Italian dish called Spaghetti Fritatta. I'll have to remember to ask my mom where she got the original recipe, probably from an old church cookbook or another local source. Until the last decade or so, "pancake" would have been a much easier concept than fritatta for Midwestern housewives to grasp, so that would be my guess as to the name variation. 

Regardless, the name does not really do this simple, delicious, filling dish any favors. Without exception, if you tell someone the name of this dish they will respond by wrinkling their nose and saying, "Ewww." I always quickly tell them, "It's better than it sounds, trust me." Think of those noodles with Parmesan you loved as a child, add a little garlic and some egg to hold it together, then fry it up in butter until it has a crust. It's really more than the sum of it's parts. 

The best part is how easy it is to make, requiring only four ingredients (plus salt and pepper) that you probably always have on hand: dried pasta, eggs, grated parmesan cheese, and garlic. It's one of those dinners you make on Monday night after a long busy weekend when you haven't had time to shop. I've been known to throw in spinach, onions and zucchini, or you can make a simple side salad to go with it. Or you can just have a big plate of it on it's own like I usually do. Some things are just too good to mess around with too much.
Here's the thing, the recipe calls for roasted minced garlic, not fresh garlic. I always have a bottle of it in my spice rack for this recipe. In fact, before I started learning how to cook in college I didn't know that garlic came any other way. Get a small jar of it from Trader Joe's, it will last forever.

For more egg-centric recipe ideas, please check out my fellow Huntington Beach blogger, Priscilla at She's Cookin'.

Spaghetti Pancake

8 oz dried pasta

2 whole eggs

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1 teaspoon roasted minced garlic

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon fresh ground pepper

2 tablespoons butter, divided

Cook the pasta a drain well, letting cool a bit.

Meanwhile, mix the eggs, Parmesan, garlic, salt, and pepper in a large bowl. It should be the consistency of a loose paste. When the pasta is slightly cool, add it to the egg mixture and toss well. 

Heat a frying pan over medium low heat with one tablespoon of butter. When it's sizzling, add the pasta mix. Let it cook for about 5-7 minutes until a nice brown crust has formed. Dot the top of the spaghetti with the remaining butter. (If you are good at flipping things in pans, you can do the whole thing. Or you can cut it into four sections and flip each one individually, like I do.) Cook the second side for about 3-4 minutes to get another nice brown crust. And you're done. 

This should make a dinner for two people, or side dish portions for four.