email this pageA Pennsylvania family gathers during Lent for feasting, fun and fettuccine.
Fifteen years ago, friends invited us to their Good Friday seafood dinner, which they’d organized to celebrate the opening of spring. We were greeted with seafood on the grill, decadent dishes in the oven and a bubbling, buttery Alfredo sauce simmering on the stove that would soon melt over a steaming shrimp and asparagus fettuccine.
This would definitely beat the parish fish fry.
The next year, we partygoers decided to assemble not just on Good Friday but every Friday during Lent. House-hopping each week through northwestern Pennsylvania, we dined on seafood quiche around Uncle George’s pool or king crab legs with melted butter, clams and corn straight off Dad’s backyard fire pit.
Word spread, and, like the sprawling buffet, the crowd multiplied each year. What began as a small family-and-friends gathering has grown today into a party of dozens who flocked to experience the glorious menu themselves.
In the beginning, I worried what the priests might say if they caught us with icy drinks and culinary extravagances spilling off our plates during a season meant for reflection and repentance. Then one year some of the priests showed up, and I realized this was exactly how we’d been instructed to live. Why not enjoy the gifts we’ve been given and the rich company of one another? Amen.
Seafood Quiche
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This luxuriously rich quiche is best in small bites. Be sure to squeeze the spinach dry after thawing. When baked, the quiche is still a little wet in the center, but it sets up as it cools.
Ingredients
1 (9-inch) deep-dish unbaked piecrust
1/2 cup lump crabmeat (about 5 ounces)
1 (10-ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
1/2 cup small peeled shrimp (about 4 ounces), uncooked
4 eggs
1 cup heavy cream
2/3 cup half-and-half
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2. Place half the cheese in piecrust. Top with crab, spinach and shrimp. Top with remaining cheese.
3. Beat eggs slightly in a large bowl. Beat in remaining ingredients. Pour over seafood and cheese.
4. Bake 15 minutes. Reduce temperature to 300F and bake 50 minutes longer, or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Let stand 10 minutes before cutting into wedges. Serves 8.
"Good Fridays," Feb. 2009 Relish.
Uncle George's Fettuccine Alfredo with Shrimp, Asparagus and Mushrooms
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1 pound asparagus, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
8 ounces white mushrooms, sliced
2 cups heavy cream
2 cups half-and-half
1 cup fresh lemon juice
2 cups grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
Coarsely ground black pepper
3/4 to 1 pound shrimp, cooked and peeled
2. Melt butter in a large skillet. Add mushrooms and cook until tender, 2 to 3 minutes.
3. Combine cream, half-and-half and lemon juice in a large deep skillet; cook over medium heat about 3 minutes. Add pasta mixture to cream mixture; stir well. Add cheese, nutmeg, salt and pepper and cook, tossing fettuccine, until sauce thickens slightly, about 1 minute. Add shrimp and mushrooms. Serve warm. Serves 12.
"Good Fridays," Feb. 2009 Relish.
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