King Crab With Fine Spaghetti, Garlic, And Olive Oil

Recipe Ingredients

1 lb	454g / 16oz	King crab leg meat - defrosted in the
		Refrigerator overnight, or other crab meat
1 cup	237ml	Cold milk - (optional)
4 cups	948ml	Garlic cloves - (to 6) (large)
2 cups	125g / 4.4oz	Ripe tomatoes (medium)
		(or 1 cup drained, chopped canned plum
		Tomatoes)
		Salt - to taste
		Freshly-ground black or white pepper - to taste
9 tablespoons	135ml	Olive oil
2 tablespoons	30ml	Butter, preferably sweet butter
1 lb	454g / 16oz	Dried spaghettini or other dried pasta
		(such as linguine fini, penne, or shells)
3 tablespoons	45ml	Chopped fresh flat-leaf or curly parsley

Recipe Instructions

Bring a very large pot of water to a boil over high heat for the pasta.

Pick through the crab meat for pieces of cartilage. If you're using king crab meat, taste a piece to see if it's very salty. If it is, place it in a shallow pan, cover the crab meat with about one cup of milk, and let it sit for 10 minutes while proceeding with the recipe.

Chop the garlic in the bowl of a food processor or by hand until it's finely chopped, scrape it out with a rubber spatula, and set it aside. You'll have 1 1/2 to 2 tablespoons. If using fresh tomatoes, cut out and discard the cores and make a shallow x through the skin on the opposite end. When the water for the pasta has boiled, drop the tomatoes into the boiling water for 10 seconds to loosen the skins. Immediately remove the tomatoes and let them sit briefly until they're cool enough to handle. As soon as the tomatoes are out, salt the water to taste, cover the pot, and let the water come back to a boil.

If you've soaked the crab meat, drain it in a colander set over a bowl if you're saving the milk, and squeeze small amounts of it out with your hand. Cut the crab meat, if necessary, into 1/2-inch pieces, and set them aside.

Place 6 tablespoons of the olive oil and all the butter in a large skillet set over low heat. When the butter has melted, add the garlic and cook it, stirring frequently, about 1 minute. Add the crab meat, season it generously with pepper (and salt if necessary), and heat it over low to medium heat, stirring occasionally, 3 to 5 minutes, or until it's heated through. Remove the skillet from the heat.

Add the pasta to the boiling water and cook it al dente according to the package directions. Meanwhile, peel the tomatoes by lifting the skin starting from the x cut. Cut each tomato in half, squeeze out and discard the seeds, and cut the flesh into small dice. You should have about 1 cup diced tomatoes. Set it aside while the pasta cooks.

A minute before the pasta is done, place the crab meat mixture back over low heat to warm through, stirring occasionally.

When the pasta is done, drain it well and pour it back into its cooking pot over very low heat. stir in the remaining 3 tablespoons of olive oil and season the pasta to taste with salt and pepper. At this point, stir the tomatoes and parsley into the warm crab meat and immediately pour the mixture over the pasta, scraping it out with a rubber spatula. With tongs or another appropriate implement, lift and stir the crab meat into the pasta as best as possible -- it won't mix in very well unless you're using a short pasta like penne or shells, but don't worry, it flavors it all nicely. Continue lifting and stirring until everything is hot and fragrant, about 1 minute.

Divide the pasta onto warm dinner plates, top with spoonfuls of crab meat, and serve right away.

This recipe yields 4 servings.

Source:
COOKING LIVE with Sara Moulton - Recipe courtesy of Leslie Revsin, Great Fish, Quick - From the TV FOOD NETWORK - (Show # CL-9096 broadcast 03-30-1998) - Downloaded from their Web-Site - http://www.foodtv.com

Rating

Average rating:

Unrated, please add a rating

Submit your rating:

• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• 5
• 6
• 7
• 8
• 9
• 10

Click a star to rate this recipe.