This was a great use of some local crab meat (thank you Oregon Coast) that we had not used in our monthly crab cakes feast. It comes from Julia Turshen in the Washington Post, and should be made with Bucatini, but we used penne because it (also) needed to be used up. This dish can also be spiced up by using an sweet chili sauce, chili powder or hot sauce, as needed. The simple tomato sauce works well as a texture with the lump crab meat.
For this you’ll need: 1/2 lb penne (or other pasta), 1/2 lb crab meat, 2 large shallots (finely chopped), 1 pint cherry tomatoes (cut in half), 6 garlic cloves (peeled and chopped), 1/2 c white wine, 4 Tsbp unsalted butter, zest of 1 lemon, 2-3 tsp of sweet chili sauce/chili paste/crushed red pepper, 2 Tbsp tomato paste, fresh parsley (chopped), salt, pepper, olive oil and parmesan (grated).
Put a pot on to boil and cook the pasta per the package instruction but 3 mins less than al dente. Make sure to save 1-1/2 cups of the pasta water when you drain the pasta.
Meanwhile, in a large skillet, heat 2 Tbsp olive oil over medium heat. Add the chopped shallots and cook until just tender, about 2-3 minutes. Add the tomatoes and a good grinding of salt and pepper and cook until the tomatoes are starting to break down – another 2-3 mins. Add the garlic and stir well until combined and fragrant – about 1 min more.
Add the wine, butter, lemon zest, chili sauce/paste/crushed red pepper and tomato paste. Stir well and turn up the heat slightly. Allow to cook until about half of the wine has boiled off (3-5 mins) and then decrease the heat and let the sauce simmer while you drain pasta and reserve the pasta water.
Add the pasta to the skillet with the sauce and stir well. Going a little bit at a time, add the pasta water until the consistency is not too thick and not too thin and all of the pasta is well coated, at least another 3 mins over medium heat.
Remove the skillet from heat, add the crab meat and the parsley and stir well. Place the entire mixture in a large serving dish (adding more water if you need it) and add grated parmesan and some additional salt and pepper before serving.
Dinner at Our Place 