Crab Pasta with White Wine Garlic Sauce

Dungeness crabmeat pasta in a silver skillet

Crab Pasta with White Wine Garlic Sauce

Pasta is usually a good way to spread out a precious protein, and this light sauce made with butter and olive oil allows fresh crabmeat to play the starring role. Since the crabmeat is already cooked, this sauce comes together in about the same time it takes to cook the pasta. Recipe adapted from Chef Bobby Flay's famous crab spaghetti.

Course Appetizer, Main Course

Cuisine American, Italian

Diet Low Fat, Low Lactose

Keyword 15 minute meals, busy weeknights

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 15

Servings

Calories 430kcal

Author Agile Test Kitchen

Equipment

1 skillet at least 10" wide
1 saucepan at least 3 qt in size

Ingredients

8 oz dried chickpea pasta, or other dried pasta or 12 oz fresh pasta
2 Tb extra virgin olive oil
2 teaspoon minced garlic this is about 2 large cloves
¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes use more if you like it spicy
3 ea anchovies packed in oil, or rinsed if packed in salt
½ c dry white wine See Note 1 for substitutions
¼ c cold butter cut into smaller chunks
½ lb lump crabmeat picked through to remove any shell peices
3 Tb roughly chopped fresh parsley save 1 Tb for garnish
1 teaspoon lemon zest zest from about 1 lemon

Optional garnish

black pepper
toasted breadcrumbs seasoned with salt
crispy chickpeas

Instructions

Bring at least 2 qt of water to a boil. Add salt and cook the pasta according to the package directions. While it's cooking you can proceed with the steps below. Once the pasta is cooked to the al dente stage (where it still has some bite), reserve 1 cup of the cooking water and drain the pasta. Set aside until it's ready for the sauce.
Put the garlic and olive oil in a skillet and set over medium heat. When the garlic starts to sizzle a little bit, add the red chili flakes. Keep stirring to keep the garlic from browning, and lower the heat if needed.
Add the anchovies to the pan. Stir a bit just to break them up.
Add the white wine to the pan and stir up any bits stuck to the pan. Bring the wine to a simmer and reduce the sauce until it looks like it's reduced by about half.
Over low heat, whisk in the butter a few chunks at a time so you get a smooth, emulsified sauce. If it boils, the butter and liquid will separate which is not ideal but still okay. We want a smooth texture rather than a greasy one.
Add the cooked pasta (which should still be hot), crabmeat, lemon zest, and 2 Tb parsley to the pan. Add about ½ c of the reserved pasta water to help the sauce coat all the food. Stir for a couple minutes over low heat to gently help all the ingredients meld together.
Garnish with the reserved parsley and any optional garnishes.

Notes

This recipe serves 4 as part of a larger meal or 2l s a main course with a side salad.

If you don't have white wine, you can use use ⅓ c water and 1 Tb fresh squeezed lemon juice.
If you don't want to cook your own fresh crabs, buying cooked crabs in the shell and pulling the meat out will generally be fresher than buying already picked crabmeat. (This would be a great use for the cooked Dungeness crabs sold at Costco!)

For easy cleanup, serve directly from the skillet, and let everyone help themselves.

Recipe adapted from the cookbook 'Bobby at Home' by Chef Bobby Flay.

Nutrition