Simple yet elegant, this Crab Spaghetti is pure comfort food with a high brow touch—because who doesn’t find comfort in twirling pasta around the big old clumps of sweetly lush lump crab.
If there’s one thing you want to eat in it’s lumpiest form, it’s crab. Take my word for it.
Crab can sometimes feel a little intimidating to make. How do you cook it? How do you crack it? And doesn’t it take forever to get that meat out of those prickly sharp shells?
But in reality, whether it’s steamed in it’s long, lanky king crabby legs dripping with butter (this recipe is hands down the easiest way to fix it) or rolled into bite size appetizer bites like this, it’s incredibly easy to prepare.
Fear not, this Crab Spaghetti with Lemon Gremolata jumps from pan to plate in about a half an hour. And I have just the tip to make it as painless as possible to make cure your crabby cravings.
Butter, wine and lemon all combine to create a lush and flavorful spaghetti noodle coating that has just a touch of heat with a sprinkling of red pepper flakes.
Now those flavors aren’t hard to find in many a shellfish / pasta dish, but what makes this recipe especially indulgent is the addition of crunchy, garlicky bread crumbs with lemon and parsley that gives a deceptively luxe crunch to this pretty simple meal.
It certainly raises the bar when you talk about shellfish.
So how exactly do you go about getting that lumpity lump crab?
Well, you could cook yourself some legs like I did here, but what I like to do for the quickest and easiest dinner creating is to buy it already cooked, cleaned and ready to go. I don’t go for the aluminum tin can kind, instead I get this brand from Costco (it’s in the refrigerated foods section and is sold fresh) and it’s my hands down favorite.
Whether you cook it yourself or buy it ready to go, just make sure it’s jumbo for the best crabby flavor.
Get my Crab Spaghetti with Lemon Gremolata recipe and see the rest of my Go Bold with Butter recipes here.
Crab Spaghetti with Lemon Gremolata
Ingredients
For crab spaghetti
- 1 pound spaghetti
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 3/4 cup white wine Chardonnay
- 1 lemon juiced
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 pound jumbo lump crab meat
- 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- kosher salt
For lemon and garlic gremolata
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 cups fresh sourdough bread crumbs
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 2 tablespoons parsley chopped
- 2 tablespoons lemon zest from 1 medium lemon
Instructions
For crab spaghetti
- Cook spaghetti noodles according to package directions. Drain and reserve 1 cup cooking water.
- In large pan over medium high heat melt butter in olive oil. Add garlic and cook for 30 seconds, stirring constantly, until fragrant. Add white wine, lemon juice and red pepper flakes. Bring to boil and reduce to simmer and cook for 8 minutes. Add lump crab meat and hot spaghetti and stir to mix well. Add 1/2 cup of Parmesan and kosher salt; toss. Add 1/4 cup of reserved cooking liquid at a time if the pasta needs more liquid. Top with Lemon and Garlic Gremolata and more Parmesan cheese and serve.
For lemon and garlic gremolata
- In medium fry pan, melt butter over medium high heat. Add bread crumbs and kosher salt. Stir to combine in butter. Toast bread crumbs for about 3-5 minutes, stirring occassionally. Be careful so crumbs don’t burn. Remove hot bread crumbs from heat and add in garlic, parsley and lemon zest. Stir to combine and add to top of Crab Spaghetti.
Because I can’t ever say no to just one round of crab, here are a few more renditions to savor.
Creamy Tomato and Crab Fettucinne
Creamy, dreamy and totally lump crabbalini, this pasta rendition makes me weak in the kneesey. Recipe here.
Crab Seafood Macaroni and Cheese
High fives all around the table, with the husb declaring this recipe as on ready to go head to head with any seafood faring food stop in Boston. Recipe here.
Spicy Garlic Lump Crab Butternut Squash Pasta
Royal is as royal does. This one is the queen of the crop thanks to it’s low carb ‘noodles’. Recipe here.
Go ahead. Dig in.
This recipe was created in partnership with Go Bold With Butter where I am a paid contributor to their website. As always, all opinions are my own. Thanks for supporting companies I partner with, which allows me to create more unique content and recipes for you.
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