Roddie's Sunday Spaghetti

Chef notes

Roddie was loved and admired not only for his heroic acts but also for his generosity, the way he loved to feed a crowd. No dish better exemplifies this than his spaghetti, which fed eighty to a hundred people and became a Sunday tradition at his church after the war. Maybe it was because the Jolly Chef Restaurant never came to be that he cooked in restaurant-size quantities and nourished a congregation instead. His original recipe called for mushroom powder, likely a mushroom-flavored bouillon. In its place, I created a homemade version using dried mushrooms and spices. It adds an elusive, savory depth that makes people ask, "What is that I'm tasting?" The meat sauce is generous, deeply comforting and undeniably American. This is exactly the kind of meal that brings people together around a table. Feel free to top the spaghetti with shaved Parmesan cheese.