Everyone likes to go MEATLESS once in a while (especially this time of year)….And if you are going to give up meat, you can at least find richness and food passion elsewhere. Like in this magnificent bowl of luscious, creamy crab pasta which takes about fifteen minutes to make. Feel free to serve this just to your family, just to yourself (not a bad idea as you will see when you taste it) or you can even share it with friends if you really really like them.
Inspiration for this dish comes from a crab spaghetti I have eaten at one of my favorite restaurants–Marea in New York. Many years ago I enjoyed my first bowl of this deliciousness and it is just unforgettable. Living hundreds of miles from New York leaves me with no choice but to take a stab at creating something close to what the ingenuity Chef Michael White manages to achieve day in and day out. I will never get close but at least if I close my eyes when I eat this, I can picture myself in one of the most elegant restaurants in Manhattan with some of the best food I have ever eaten (uni on buttered crostini anyone?).
You will need fresh pasta for this dish. I used Buitoni linguini because it was readily available in my grocery store. The Italian whole peeled tomatoes from DeLallo in “heavy juice” are sweet, easy to crush by hand and so amazingly rich that they really make the sauce pop with flavor. These are definitely not your ordinary canned tomatoes. The “heavy juice” is more like a tomato puree and you will use some of it in the sauce. You will crush the little darlings in your hands until they turn into thin strips of tomatoes. This creates texture that melds well with the fresh pasta. If you cannot find the DeLallo tomatoes you can use any whole peeled Italian tomatoes in tomato puree. If the liquid is too watery, you can add a tablespoon of tomato paste when you add the tomatoes.
Although conventional wisdom is the never, ever let garlic brown when sauteeing because it takes on a bitter quality, I will tell you that if you can just brown the garlic before it goes over the edge to burned and bitter, your sauce will taste a whole lot more interesting. So when you saute the garlic, don’t leave it all pale and limp, but take a real risk and see how brown you can get it before killing it. Take your time, stir stir stir and trust me you will be so pleased with the toastier result. Just do not burn it. Medium brown is NOT black. Remember that.
Finally, there is a bit of cream in this dish and you will just have to get past the diet du jour and just enjoy this. It is worth it I promise. And a half of cup of cream in a whole dish of pasta shared by all your family and friends is hardly enough to make you run to the gym.
So here is a nod to my hometown of New York, a thanks to Chef White for the many meals I have enjoyed at Marea (the meals dreams are made of) and a surprisingly easy recipe that you will never forget!
Crab Pasta
Fresh pasta really makes this dish a standout because it tends to absorb the sauce better and its texture marries well with the lump crabmeat. There is no substitute for lump crabmeat (no shredded claw meat) but you can certainly make this with shrimp. Just don't overcook them.
Ingredients
- 2 packages Buitoni fresh linguine
- 4 tablespoons olive oil divided
- 4 tablespoons butter divided
- 3 tablespoons finely minced garlic
- 3 slices stale French bread
- 4 tablespoons parsley leaves
- 1 28 ounce can DeLallo Italian whole peeled tomatoes broken up by hand into shreds with juice in the can reserved or any Italian whole peeled tomatoes in tomato puree
- 2 tablespoons honey
- ½ cup heavy cream
- 8 ounces lump crabmeat or 1 pound of medium sized raw shrimp peeled and deveined
- Freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano optional
Instructions
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Bring a large pot of salted water to boil.
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Tear bread into large pieces and put in the bowl of a food processor along with the parsley leaves. Pulse until the bread is in medium crumbs and the parsley is well chopped.
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In a very large saucepan with high sides, heat 1 ½ tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat and quickly add the breadcrumb mixture. Stir until it is well browned and crisp, about 5-6 minutes. Scrape the crumbs into a bowl and set aside. Wipe the skillet clean.
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Heat the remaining 2 ½ tablespoons olive oil and 2 tablespoons of butter in the same skillet over medium high heat. When it is bubbling, add the garlic, stirring constantly, and lower the heat to medium. Stir the garlic until it is just toasty and brown but not dark brown or black.
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Immediately add all of the shredded tomatoes and a half-cup of the “heavy juice” from the can of tomatoes.
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Cook the tomatoes over medium heat until they are softened and starting to melt into the sauce, about 10 minutes. Add the honey and stir well. Continue to stir the tomato sauce while making the pasta.
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Pull the strands of linguini apart before putting them in the salted water. Cook the pasta for exactly 2 ½ minutes. Reserve ½ cup of pasta water and drain the pasta. Set aside while you finish the sauce.
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Add the cream and reserved pasta water to the sauce. Stir well and let come to a boil.
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If you are using shrimp, stir them into the sauce now and cook for 1-2 minutes until they are just done. Don’t overcook them or they will be rubbery.
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Toss the pasta into the sauce and keep tossing it until the sauce completely covers the strands of linguini. Turn the heat to low and add the lump crab and the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter to the pasta and toss well until the butter is melted.
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Serve the pasta in individual bowls with a generous sprinkle of toasted breadcrumbs and parsley over the top and the freshly grated cheese.