Spaghetti and Crabs recipe | Dinner at the Club cookbook (2024)

A hard-to-get reservation is prized among serious restaurant-goers, but a table limited to members only seems to be the Philadelphia diner’s Holy Grail. Palizzi Social Club is 100 years old this year in South Philly, but it was after chef Joey Baldino took over from his late uncle Ernie that business really started to boom.

Palizzi has mastered the balance of old-school Italian kitsch and super-high-quality food and co*cktails. Once a gathering place for the Abruzzi-American community, Palizzi Social Club is a current hot spot: members can take up to three guests, and if the light is on outside, they’re open. In 2017, Palizzi was named Bon Appetit‘s #4 Best New Restaurant, Esquire‘s honourable mention best new restaurant, and Eater Philly’s #1 restaurant of the year.

Chef Joey’s menu at Palizzi has a broad Southern Italian scope. Seventy adaptable, accessible recipes throughout include dishes like:

Fennel and Orange Salad
Arancini with Ragu and Peas
Spaghetti with Crabs
Stromboli
Hazelnut Torrone

Come on in, and join the club.

Dinner at the Club: 100 Years of Stories and Recipes from South Philly’s Palizzi Social Club is available at Amazon.com and Indigo.

Spaghetti and Crabs

The most popular dishes on the menu at the Club are the most quintessentially South Philly things: the Escaroleand Beans, the Stuffed Artichokes, and definitely this pasta, paired with whole blue crustaceansslowly simmered in marinara until they meld into the sauce colloquially called crab gravy. Crab gravyis the name of the sauce, but it’s also the name of the complete dish. Some families down here also refer toit as crabs and macaroni, but to keep it clear to our members who didn’t grow up with it, we call it spaghettiand crabs.

Like in Maryland nearby, blue crabs are the dominant species down the shore in South Jersey, to which manySouth Philly families decamp to escape the brutal summers in the city. This is a dish strongly associated withthat time of year when our usual Sunday gravy hearty withmeatballs, sausages,Braciole, or braisingcuts of beef and pork takes a vacation in favour of this lighter seafood sauce. At the Club, we build the gravywith anchovies, brandy, and wine, additions you won’t find in most households’ recipes, but ones I think improvethe overall flavour. Clam juice is another unusual ingredient in our crab gravy. You know when you open cannedtomatoes, empty them out, and you add some water to swirl around to collect those bits left behind in the can?Instead of water, which adds no flavour, we add the clam juice, which punches up the gravy’s oceanic profile forno extra work.

When buying crabs, live (and lively) is best. Frozen ones will work, too, but take longer to brown because ofthe moisture content. Blue crabs don’t have the huge deposits of meat of their West Coast relatives, so look forlarger ones to hedge your bets. Whomever you’re cooking for, you want them to have something they can getinto. White shirts should be left at home.

SERVES 6

CRAB GRAVY

1 sprig oregano

1 bay leaf

1Arbolchile

1 tablespoon tomato paste

3 oil-packed anchovy fillets

1⁄2cup (125 ml) Chablis

1⁄4cup (59 ml) brandy

1⁄2cup (125 ml) clam juice

1 cup (240 ml) water

Heat the blended oil in a large Dutch oven set over medium-high heat. Evenlyseason the crabs on both sides with half each of the salt, black pepper, andoregano. Slowly sear the crabs, top shell–side down, until they turn dark redin colour, about 5 minutes. Flip and continue to sear for 5 minutes. Remove thetop shells and reserve. Flip the crabs again and sear the insides until dark brown,about 6 minutes. Remove the browned crabs and set aside in a shallow dish.Discard the oil and allow the pot to cool for 5 minutes.

While the pot is cooling, combine the tomatoes, sugar (if needed), andremaining salt, pepper, and oregano in a medium bowl and crush the tomatoesas much as possible with your hands. Set aside at room temperature.

Wipe out the pot, making sure to remove any burned crab parts that mightbe stuck to the bottom. Set the pot over low heat and add the olive oil, onion,garlic, herbs, andchile. Sweat until the onions are translucent, about 8 minutes.Make a space in the pot and add the tomato paste and anchovies. Cook for 5minutes, or until the paste turns from bright red to copper. Return the crabsand reserved shells to the pot. Pour the Chablis into the dish that held the crabs,swishing around to collect any extra crab bits and juices, then add the wine to thepot. Reduce until almost dry, about 3 minutes. Add the brandy and simmer until thealcohol has cooked off, about 5 minutes. Add the seasoned crushed tomatoes.Pour the clam juice into the tomato bowl and swish around to collect anyleftover tomato bits. Add the mixture to the pot along with the water and lowerthe heat to maintain a slow simmer. Cook for 2 hours, partially covered, gentlystirring about every 10 minutes,thenlet cool completely to room temperature.

When the sauce has cooled, remove the crabs. If needed, scrape out anddiscard the lungs. Scrape out any roe and other innards and add them to thesauce. Cut the crabs in half and set aside at room temperature.

Set a chinois (conical strainer) over a clean pot. Working in batches, ladlethe cooked sauce into the china cap, pressing as much into the clean pot as possible.Be sure to scrape everything off the outside of the chinois with a rubberspatula into the strained sauce. Discard the remaining solids. Stir the sauce well andkeep over low heat.

SPAGHETTI

1 pound (454 g) dried spaghetti

1⁄4teaspoon finely chopped garlic

1 very small pinch red pepper flakes

1⁄4cup (59 ml) extra-virgin olive oil,divided, plus more for serving

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

10 fresh basil leaves, torn

10 ounces (283 g) fresh lump crabmeat

Bring a large pot of water to a boil and salt generously. Add the spaghetti andcook for 1 minute less than the time specified on the package directions.

Meanwhile, combine the garlic, red pepper flakes, and half of the olive oilin a large sautépan set over medium-low heat. Sweat the ingredients for 1 minute,then add the crab gravy. Increase the heat to medium-high and simmer thesauce until reduced by half, about 5 minutes.

Strain the spaghetti, reserving the pasta water. Add the spaghetti to thegravy with the remaining olive oil and the butter, basil, and crabmeat. Lower theheat to medium and cook for 2 minutes, tossing to combine. While the pasta isfinishing cooking, return half of the pasta water to the empty pot used to cookthe pasta and bring to a simmer. Place the cooked crabs in the simmering water.When warm, remove the crabs from the pot, shaking off the excess water, andarrange them on top of the plated spaghetti. Drizzle with olive oil and serve.

*Throughout the book you’ll also see us call for“blended oil,”mostly in recipes for salad dressings(where straight olive oil would be too assertive) and for searing meat (which requires a higher smokepoint). To make blended oil, combine one part extra-virgin olive oil with three parts canola oil. Wekeep it in a plastic squeeze bottle for easy use. Any dishes that call for deep-frying, we use canola oil.