Spaghettini with Crab and Spicy Lemon Sauce
Yield: Makes 4 servings
3/4 pound spaghettini
4 tablespoons butter
2 large garlic clove, pressed
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon lemon peel
1/2 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper
3 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
Smidge of fresh thyme
8 ounces lump crabmeat, picked over
3 ounces prosciutto, sliced crosswise (optional)
Cook pasta in large pot of boiling salted water until just tender but still firm to bite, stirring occasionally.
Meanwhile, heat 4 tablespoons butter and garlic in large skillet over medium heat. Mix in next 3 ingredients.
Drain pasta, reserving 1/2 cup cooking liquid. Add pasta, 1/4 cup cooking liquid, chopped parsley, and crabmeat to skillet. Toss over medium heat until sauce coats pasta, adding more cooking liquid by tablespoonfuls to moisten if necessary, about 4 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer to large platter. Top with prosciutto, if desired. Add a pat of butter if you'd like and garnish with fresh chives and thyme.
This was oh so good! We are blessed with great friends who can go crabbing frequently. They sent us home with quite a bit of crab the last time we were at their house and it's been taunting me from the freezer ever since. I just didn't really know what to do with it. I found this recipe and tweaked it a bit, trading in the olive oil for butter (because with crab, butter is always better!), getting rid of parsley and adding the chives and thyme.
I do know why crabmeat is so expensive though - it's a bugger to get it all out of those legs! But well worth it if you have a crabbing friend. If not, buy the lump crabmeat.
And if you ever come to my house in crabbing season, I'll score us some! Aaron, William and I were the only ones to eat it - Laurel has decided she doesn't like crab (more for me!), but James took a few bites and I know he got some crab in there. So perhaps they might like it again. The lemon flavor is very nice, and it's not super spicy - just the right amount of heat to make sure it's not too rich.
