Crab & Broccolini Lemon Pasta
Sweet, salty, sour, and a little spicy, this pasta dish has a little something for everybody. And because you only use eight ounces of crab, it's a great way for the whole family to enjoy it without breaking the bank!
Ingredients
- 3 Tablespoons olive oil
- 4 garlic cloves thinly sliced or coarsely chopped
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper (flakes or powder) more if you like spicy!
- ½ pound broccolini cut into bite-sized pieces
- 12 ounces pasta casarecce, fusilli, penne, or medium shell
- ½ pound fresh crabmeat such as Dungeness or blue crab (see notes)
- 1 lemon halved
- Salt and pepper to season
Instructions
- Cook pasta in a large pot of boiling, salted water, (see notes), stirring occasionally to keep it from sticking together. Reserve about a cup of the pasta liquid.
- While the pasta is cooking, heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic and red pepper and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about a minute.
- Add broccolini and season with salt. Cook until tender, about 4 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add the crab and allow it to warm, then add the cooked pasta and half of the reserved water. Toss to mix everything, adding more of the pasta liquid as needed.
- Squeeze the lemon over the pasta and serve with more salt and red pepper.
Notes
On crab: If you can't get fresh crab, you can still enjoy this dish. You can buy it frozen or refrigerated and precracked. Just promise me that you make a good faith effort to find fresh crab! And if you can't find crab, I promise this would be delicious with shrimp or a firm white fish such as halibut.
If you have a pasta pot, this is a great time to use it because you can lift the strainer part out and dump the pasta right into the skillet. If you don't have one, use a slotted spoon or large skimmer to lift the pasta out so that you can reserve the liquid easily.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!