Follow step-by-step, photo illustrated instructions for making our Crab Annie pasta recipe. Careful, Annie comes packing heat, perhaps you’ve heard about her. Made with fresh Blue Crab meat, you could easily substitute imitation crab meat to save a little money if desired. Annie is pretty frugal anyway, she wouldn’t mind. This dish comes together quickly, is served warm, and the whole family will enjoy it. Printable recipe included.

Crab Annie Recipe:

Jazz music may be credited with originating in New Orleans, but it’s certainly moved on up into North Carolina over the years. In my younger years, I enjoyed watching the likes of Louis Armstrong on TV, and I’m all ears when some ragtime piano starts to play. Scott Joplin anyone? Jazz takes on many forms, styles and interpretations, much more than we can even begin to get into here.

Jazz festivals are held all across the country each year, from the New Orleans Jazz Festival, to North Carolina locals like the Apex Jazz and Music Festival, to the North Carolina Jazz Festival of Wilmington, just to name a few. Music festivals are always about the music, but you’ll certainly find some great food to go along with them.

For 30 years, the New Orleans Jazz Festival, has served a pasta dish named “Crawfish Monica.” Created by chef Pierre Hilzam, he named the dish after his wife Monica. Folks line up at festival time for a Styrofoam bowl of the pasta and Crawfish, which has a creole type seasoning, and it has been voted as a favorite for many years. But, that’s down in Louisiana, what about here in North Carolina.

I got to thinking about that, and figured we need a jazz tradition of our own. While I’ve tried Crawfish, sucking the innards from the heads of those “bugs” just doesn’t appeal to me much. I love the seafood standards, like fish, oysters and shrimp, but I like those fried. Our own pasta type dish would need something different, something more “feisty.

“How about Blue Crab?” They’re pretty feisty little creatures, in more ways than one.

Blue Crab are charming, feisty, cute, interesting, entertaining, quick to defend themselves, and certainly much more appealing than something often referred to as bugs. Blue Crab it is I reasoned. So, let me introduce you to Crab Annie, our very own Jazzy Carolina Pasta creation.

I named the dish after my friend Annie.

Annie admits she can be a bit feisty some times, and like our pasta dish, she’s “packing heat” now that she has a six-shooter of her own. She’s certainly interesting, cute and charming, and I find her sense of humor to be quite entertaining most of the time.

Annie will quickly put up her dukes to defend herself, while side-stepping away from a real confrontation if at all possible. I’m just in hopes I’ll never experience those female claws if she doesn’t fully appreciate having this dish named after her. (Smile Annie)

Crab Annie, our Jazzy Carolina Pasta Dish uses a very special blend of “secret” spices. You knew it would though, right? A guy has to keep a few secrets you know. To get around that, I’ve included a “copycat” recipe of the seasoning blend, which you’ll need to make first.

Our dish is best made with fresh Blue Crab which can be a bit expensive, and a bit more time consuming trying to pick out enough meat. Although it will serve about 8-10 people, feel free to use imitation crab meat, or even shrimp if you must. Either way, add it to your list of recipes to try this summer.

I expect to see restaurants everywhere soon offering Crab Annie on their menus. It should also be available at all the North Carolina area Jazz Festivals, once it starts catching on. I just hope they’ll give me credit for creating it. It might help me score some points with Annie when the recipe becomes famous. I’ve already designed a poster for when that happens.

Crab Annie is a little bit spicy what with all the peppers and the Texas Pete Hot Sauce. Still, this version is mild enough all the family should enjoy it. Adding more “heat” will be up to you and your personal tolerance for hot stuff.

Just be sure to serve it up with Annie’s favorite soda… Mountain Dew.

Ready to give it a try? Alright then, grab those claws and… Let’s Get Cooking!

Keep an eye out for “Crab Annie.” I can see this popping up on restaurant menu’s everywhere real soon.

Crab Annie, Jazzy Carolina Pasta Recipe: You’ll need these ingredients… plus some crab meat.

Crab Annie is best when you can use fresh Blue Crab meat. But, as mentioned, you could substitute with some imitation just as easily, and a good bit cheaper. My local seafood store had just started carrying some Blue Shell Crab when we prepared this recipe. The all female crabs were a bit on the small side, and you’d certainly need a few more than this to come up with a pound of fresh crab meat.

Blue Crab are entertaining little creatures. Feisty as well. I probably just leaned on the sink and watched them for about 30 minutes once I brought them home. They’re very interesting. Unlike fish, they just seem to be looking straight at you at times.

When I added some water to the sink, they all started “bubbling,” and appeared to be enjoying it. Did you know they shed their shells? They shed them in order to grow larger. Females only mate one time in their life, but males will mate numerous times. They can lay over one million eggs at a time. Amazing.

And this is how they look after being cooked. Enough said. Let’s move on with the recipe.

Crab Annie Seasoning: You’ll need to make up a batch of seasoning for this dish. The full list of the 12 spices you’ll need, is included in the printable recipe at the bottom of this post. Just measure them out carefully, place them in a jar and shake them up together. You’ll need three Tablespoons for this dish. You can also use it on fish, shrimp, or chicken. This version is fairly mild, but you could certainly heat it up by adding more Cayenne Pepper. Start out with the basics, then increase the heat as desired if you want it hotter.

Prepare the Pasta: Go ahead and get the pasta cooking. It’ll be ready by the time you get the vegetables ready. Prepare the pasta according to the package directions. Let it cook until al dente, which will take about 8-10 minutes.

Prep the Vegetables: The dish comes together fairly quickly, so it’s best to go ahead an prep all of your vegetables before you start making the sauce. Dice the medium Onion.

I found a package of sliced bell peppers on sale at my local grocery store. I’ve made this dish before using just green bell peppers, but I really like the looks of adding a variety of colored peppers. You could use, red, green, yellow, whatever is readily available. Dice them up into smaller pieces.

Chop the garlic, or mince it if you have one of those little gadgets for doing that with. I’m going to break down and buy one of those for myself one of these days.

Halve about 20 little Grape Tomatoes. Set all the vegetables aside.

When the pasta is cooked, it’s time to begin putting it all together.

Prepare the Rotini Pasta according to the directions on the package. But, before you drain it…

Remove one half cup of the cooking liquid and set it aside for the moment.

Now, drain the pasta in a colander. I didn’t rinse mine, as I want to keep it warm.

Place the drained pasta back in the same pot you cooked it in. Add the half cup of reserved pasta water back to the pasta.

Add the Olive oil.

Give it all a good stir.

Place a lid on the pot to cover it, then set it aside somewhere to keep it warm. We’ll be adding the sauce to it in just a few minutes.

“Some of you never been down South too much. I’m gonna tell you a little story, so you’ll understand what I’m talking about. See, down in Louisiana, where the Alligators grow so mean, lived a girl that I declare to the world, made the alligators look tame.” (Name that song)

I make the sauce in my cast iron skillet. Place the skillet over medium heat, let it warm up a bit, then add the Butter.

When the Butter has melted down, add the Onions and the Bell Peppers.

Stir the Peppers and Onions together, and let them cook for about 5 minutes, or until the onions start looking translucent. Don’t cook them too fast or let them start burning.

Add the Garlic.

Stir the Garlic. You really don’t want to let the Garlic burn. Keep a watch on it and let it cook for just about one to two minutes.

Add the halved Grape Tomatoes.

Add the Crab Annie Seasoning mix. Sprinkle it all around the pan.

Stir the seasoning into the vegetables. Let this cook about one minute.

Add the two Tablespoons of Vinegar mixed with two Tablespoons of Water mixture.

Add the Texas Pete Hot Sauce.

Add the Heavy Cream.

Gently stir it all together.

Add the Lemon Juice.

Stir the mixture again. Let it continue to simmer and reduce down a bit until it slightly thickens.

Add the Blue Crab Meat.

Gently stir everything together again. Since the Blue Crab meat is already cooked, we just want to let it simmer long enough to get the crab meat warm.

When the Blue Crab meat is warmed, give it one last stir, then add it to the pot with the pasta.

Add the half cup of grated Parmesan Cheese, then stir everything together. You need to serve the pasta while it’s still warm.

Enjoy!

PS: I created this recipe originally for the Our State Magazine website. Our State Magazine is all about the People, Places and Events of North Carolina, and I’m proud to be a regular contributor of recipes to their online blog “Our State Eats.”

It goes by lots of names, Macaroni and Beef, Goulash, American Goulash and more. No matter the name, it’s just good down home comfort food.

There are a good number of Southern dishes that are considered to be “comfort foods.”

Macaroni and Beef is one of the top dishes you’ll find on that list. It’s been passed down from generation to generation, and always brings back warm memories whenever you get to enjoy a bowl.

Grandma and Mama knew how to stretch a few ingredients to feed a lot of people, big families included. As you’ll see, it really does make a lot.

After an afternoon of playing in the snow on a closed school day, a big warm bowl of Macaroni and Beef could warm a kid up real quick. You couldn’t share it with the snowman you just made though, he would probably melt. Smile.

Mama often served this for Sunday dinner when she knew the Preachers family would be coming. Kids really love this dish, but most adults do as well.

It goes together really quick with little prep work and can be on the table within the hour.

I’m not showing the process of cooking the macaroni here. Just follow the directions on the package.

This is a pretty basic recipe. Once you try it, you’ll probably come up with ways you’d like to enhance it. And, that’s okay. I always encourage you to take a recipe and make it your own.

So, if you’re ready to try it, then let’s head on out to the kitchen, and… Let’s Get Cooking!

Macaroni and Beef Recipe – You’ll need these ingredients.

Let’s begin by dicing up the onion. Set it aside for now.

Then, go ahead and open the can of tomatoes. I’m just showing you this so I can brag on my brand new can opener from our friends at OXO Good Grips. As you may know, I’ve worked with OXO numerous times testing and reviewing their products. I have a lot of them in my kitchen and love them all.

I did buy this can opener. My old one was messing up on me after about a year or so. I don’t use it a lot but I paid enough for it that it shouldn’t have quit on me so soon.

I paid a bit more for this one, but I love the fact that it cuts with a smooth clean edge. No more sharp edges trying to remove the lid from a newly opened can. OXO isn’t sponsoring this post, but I just wanted to share the info with you. Smile.

Grab your stock pot and place the ground beef inside. I’m using about a 5 quart pot here.

Break the ground beef up as it begins to cook, then let it cook until it’s fully browned.

If you have a lot of grease from cooking the beef, you might want to drain most of it off before you add the onions. I’m using a 80/20 combination and it didn’t have enough fat to worry with. I know it will cook out even more as the onions cook.

Stir everything together and let the onions cook until they are translucent. This may take about five minutes or so. Just stir it often so nothing sticks to the bottom of the pot.

When the onions have cooked down some, add the salt.

Add the black pepper.

Add the ketchup. Or, is it catsup? I’m always confused. Which do you prefer? Smile

Pour in the can of crushed tomatoes.

Add the cooked and drained macaroni.

Stir everything together really well.

REDUCE THE HEAT TO A SIMMER

Reduce the heat, cover the pot and just let it simmer for about five more minutes. You’re just heating up the tomatoes and the macaroni, so it doesn’t need to cook any longer. It’s ready.

Enjoy!

Serve this up with some toasted garlic and butter bread and you’ve got a meal.

A cool and refreshing pasta salad that makes for a great side dish, or just eat it by the bowl full. The flavors of Ranch Dressing and Bacon make for an awesome combination.

I am so proud of the Dill from my garden that I had to find a recipe to use some of it in. Only needed two teaspoons, but that was enough to get excited about. And, the bacon and Ranch seasoning didn’t hurt. Smile.

Years back, my wife made something very similar to this from a box mix. It was one of those things that you liked so much, that you ate it real often and then got tired of it. Ever done that?

I hadn’t had this in a very long time, so when I discovered this recipe and saw that it used fresh Dill, I knew I wanted to give it a try. I made a few tweaks, so I hope you’ll like it as much as I did should you try it.

This summer is the very first time I’ve had a container garden on my back deck. I had one tomato plant, and one small pot filled with Dill.

For reasons I’ve still yet to figure out, I had a packet of Dill seeds on my desk. They were probably a year or more old, but they did come up. So, I’ve called this the Taste of Southern FARM ever since.

Sadly, this was the only time I got to try any of the Dill though. Caterpillars found the plant and about four of them stripped every single leaf of Dill off the stems. Can you imagine eating nothing but all that Dill?

So much for farming. Smile.

Please share your results with me in the Comment section at the end of the recipe if you try it. I enjoy hearing how it turns out for others.

Ready to give our recipe a try? Alright then, let’s head on out to the kitchen, and… Let’s Get Cooking!

Bacon-Ranch Pasta Salad Recipe – You’ll need these ingredients.

Prepare the 12oz package of Shell Pasta according to the directions on the box. Drain and set aside.

You’ll need about 8 strips of cooked Bacon. Chop it up into small pieces. Set aside.

You’ll need one cup of chopped Roma Tomatoes. I removed the seeds and then chopped up the tomatoes.

Place one cup of Sour Cream in a large mixing bowl. I just used the same pot I had boiled my pasta in. No need to mess up another dish, right?

Add 1/2 cup of Duke’s Mayonnaise. You have to know by now that Duke’s is my favorite. Smile.

Add one teaspoon of Apple Cider Vinegar.

Add 1/2 teaspoon of Garlic Powder.

Add the packet of Ranch Seasoning.

Grab a large spoon and stir everything together.

Add the cooked and drained shell pasta.

Add the chopped bacon.

Add 1 cup of the shredded Parmesan Cheese.

This is one of the very few times you’ll ever see me add a packaged cheese. I could have bought a block of parmesan, but it’s a bit expensive and more than I would need. Don’t judge me.

I prefer to grate my own cheese when possible. It’s much better than using the packaged grated cheese that has that white powdery stuff on it. Smile.

Add the one cup of chopped Roma Tomatoes.

I’m using fresh Dill, right off of the “farm.”  I grew this in a plastic container out on the back deck this summer. I had one pot of Dill, and one whole tomato plant. That is enough to be considered a “farm” isn’t it?

You’ll need two teaspoons of fresh Dill. I just pinched the leaves off the harder stems and tossed them into the bowl with all the other ingredients.

Gently fold everything together until it’s all fully combined.

Cover and refrigerate for TWO HOURS before serving.

This will let all the flavors blend together.

Enjoy!

Mama was all Southerner, so there is nothing Italian about the way she made spaghetti. It’s just very simple, very easy, and I loved it then and love it now. I hope you’ll agree should you try it.

I always thought Mama made my favorite Spaghetti dish with tomato soup. I was wrong, and it took me many years to ever realize that.

Growing up, Mama made Spaghetti about once a week as I recall. I watched her make it many times, but my memory was always telling me that can of red stuff she poured in the pot was just plain tomato soup.

I tried for years to duplicate her Spaghetti. I used tomato soup with and without added water, with and without tomato paste added to it, and with and without tomato sauce, but it never came close to my memory of what she made. I was trying too hard it seems.

When I made the recipe for Macaroni and Tomatoes, and posted it here on Taste of Southern, I discovered one of the key ingredients to her Spaghetti. Mama always used Bacon Grease to cook her onions in. I was finally getting close. I even tried to make her Spaghetti with crushed tomatoes instead of soup, but it still wasn’t right.

When I finally made it using Bacon Grease, Onions, and Tomato SAUCE, I knew God had blessed me to finally figure it out. It still wasn’t as good as hers, but it sure was close. I’ll never make it exactly like she did as I’ve found with many of my kitchen attempts. She just added that special touch of LOVE in all of her dishes. Dishes I grew UP and OUT with. Smile.

I guess I really was trying too hard. The recipe had eluded me for years and I always wondered what I was missing.

Mama was a Southerner, so there is nothing you might consider Italian about this simple dish. I doubt she ever owned any of those familiar Italian spices you’d find in a Spaghetti sauce that cooked all day.

Sometimes, she would make meatballs to go along with the Spaghetti. Those were awesome as well.

I know it’s very simple, but this is the Spaghetti I remember growing up with. I hope you might like it should you decide to try it.

Ready to try? Alright then, let’s head on out to the kitchen, and… Let’s Get Cooking!

Mama’s Spaghetti Recipe – You’ll need these ingredients.

That little container on the left is what I store my bacon grease in. I keep some in the refrigerator all the time, and BACON GREASE is the KEY ingredient to making this super simple spaghetti.

Let’s begin by chopping up the onion. I’m using one whole onion of about medium size.

Place 3 Tablespoons of Bacon Grease in your skillet and then add the chopped onions. Place this over Medium heat on your stove top.

I had just cooked up a batch of bacon in this skillet and drained most of the grease into a container for safe keeping. You do save your bacon grease don’t you? That stuff is liquid gold in the kitchen. Smile.

Prepare your pasta according to the directions on the package. Drain your spaghetti while you sauté the onions.

I’m only using half of a box for this recipe. You can easily double the recipe if you need more.

Let the onions cook in the bacon grease until they are tender and translucent. The bacon grease will help them to brown as they cook, but just be careful with them and don’t let them burn. Stir often.

Place the cooked onions back in the empty pot that you cooked your spaghetti in.

Add 1 can of Tomato Sauce (15oz) to the pot.

Stir this up and let it cook for about 2-3 minutes until the tomato sauce is nice and hot.

Remove the pot from the stovetop and add the drained spaghetti.

Stir it well until all the noodles are coated with sauce.

That’s it… you’re done.

Enjoy!

You can serve this up with some toasted garlic bread if you like. Mama never got that fancy. She might have made some cornmeal hoe cakes, or just served some plain white bread with it.

This was definitely one of my childhood favorites and a dish Mama would have prepared about once a week.

PS: I debated calling this Ellie Spaghetti, to name it after my mom. Smile