One of the best things about pasta is that you can create something quite luxurious in a matter of minutes and this lovely seafood dish is no exception. If you can’t get hold of fresh crab, use the best quality jumbo lump crab meat you can find, often found in cans or vacuum packed.

One the other hand, I recommend you stay away from anything called ‘krab’ – it may look like the real thing but I wouldn’t feed it to my cat, if I had one.

Experiment with different herbs such as mint or parsley. I particularly like tarragon but you don’t want to overdo it. Feel free to adjust the amount of chili and lemon as well…

Linguine with Crab, Fresh Herbs, Lemon & Chili

LINGUINE WITH CRAB, FRESH HERBS, LEMON & CHILI

(Serves 2)

Ingredients:

8 oz (227g) of linguine

4 tablespoons of butter, divided

2 tablespoons of olive oil, divided

1 medium shallot, minced

1 clove of garlic, crushed

1/2 – 1 teaspoon of dried chili flakes, to taste

1 -2 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice

2 heaped teaspoons of finely grated lemon zest

1/2 cup (20ml) of dry white wine

Freshly ground black pepper

8 oz of shelled crab or jumbo lump crab meat

1/3 cup of fresh tarragon and chives, mixed

Action:

Cook the pasta according to instructions and set aside 1/2-1 cup of the cooking liquid. While the pasta is cooking,  heat 1 tablespoon of butter with 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a deep skillet or saute pan and sweat the minced shallot until it’s soft (3-4 minutes), then add the garlic and chili flakes. Cook for a couple of minutes more, then add the white wine, and bring the heat up to evaporate it.

Tip the cooked pasta into the pan with the shallot and garlic, adding 1/2 cup of pasta cooking water.  Toss the pasta around to coat for about 1-2 minutes then add the remaining butter, olive oil, lemon zest, lemon juice, half of the herbs, a good grind of black pepper – and finally the crab.

Keep tossing the pasta until the butter has melted and transfer it to a warmed serving bowl with the remaining herbs scattered over.  Finish with a little extra lemon juice sprinkled over if you like.