This crab spaghetti dish looks like such a sophisticated dish but it is really so easy to make. We actually make this as a weeknight dinner. But its still a treat! An easy to make and comforting to eat but indulgent weeknight dinner.
I have always loved crab but it is so intimidating to make! Not only do I not want to try to prep the actual crab but its also pretty pricey! Way to pricey to waste on a dish that is not prepared well!
But like I said, I love crab! So I was determined to figure it out. Prepping the crabmeat is now not a problem at all because I either buy the pasteurized canned crabmeat (which is what I do for a meal like this) or I head over to my local fishmonger and ask them to prep it for my recipe needs. (Trust me - Lifesavers!)
The next hurdle was worrying about wasting the crab on a bad preparation. The only solution to that is: get over it! Jump in there and try it. Sometimes the crab dishes weren't amazing and sometimes they were soo crazy unbelievably good! You can't get it right until you try.
What I learned through the trial and error was that sometimes the best thing to do with crabmeat is to keep it simple. Let the flavor of the seafood shine. That's why for this pasta dish I intentionally left the crab sauce so simple. I use a lot of fresh flavors to compliment the seafood like: lemon, dill and parsley. But I really love the addition of the sun-dried tomatoes here. They are amazing by themselves. But when you toss in just a few sun-dried tomatoes they make for just the perfect sweet and tart bite of crab spaghetti.
Chili Garlic Oil
My kids love seafood. I think any type of seafood, but especially crab! But they are the reason why I had to create this chili garlic oil. I mean what's a crab dish if its not spicy, right??
So I use the chili garlic to moderate the heat in the dish. But it turned out to be such a wonderful flavor booster. It works really well as the topper because oil has a chance to infuse beforehand. Plus you can use the additional oil to dip your crusty bread in to as well!
This chili garlic oil just turns this pasta dish into the most amazing spicy crab spaghetti! (But only if you want to, you can add just a drizzle and it adds the perfect amount of heat)
Plus its only 3 ingredients!
- olive oil
- garlic
- red pepper flakes
For even more seafood dishes check out: Shrimp and Scallop Scampi, Shrimp Tikka Masala with Gobi Grits, Baked Masala Fish Tacos
Crab Spaghetti with Chili Garlic Oil
Ingredients
- 1 pound spaghetti
- kosher salt
- ⅓ cup sun dried tomatoes
- 3 tablespoon butter
- 1 shallot diced
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 1 pound lumb crab meat
- 1 cup dry white wine
- 1 tablespoon dill chopped
- 2 tablespoon parsley chopped
- 1 zest and juice of lemon
- salt and pepper to taste
Chili Garlic Oil
- ⅓ cup olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves sliced
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
Instructions
Chili Garlic Oil
- Heat the olive oil in a saucepan on low heat.
- Add the garlic slices and the red pepper flakes to the oil.
- Stir and heat the oil until it is gently simmering.
- Remove from heat and set the oil aside for 1 hour.
- After 1 hour, remove the garlic slices from the oil. You can remove the pepper flakes if you prefer. But I like to leave them in to infuse further.
- The oil can be stored in a glass jar in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Crab Spaghetti
- In a small saucepan heat 1 cup of water to just boiling, remove the saucepan from the heat, add the sun-dried tomatoes to the water. Let the tomatoes soak for about 20 minutes.
- Bring a large pot of water to boil, add some kosher salt to flavor the water. Cook spaghetti according to the package instructions. Reserve 1 cup of pasta cooking water. Drain pasta and set it aside.
- Heat a large skillet to medium high heat, add butter. As the butter is melting, stir in the diced shallots.
- Slice the sundried tomatoes once they have softened in the hot water for 20 minutes. Add the sliced tomatoes to the skillet.
- Add the minced garlic and white wine. Allow the sauce to cook for about 3-5 minutes to reduce by half.
- Stir in the crab meat. Season with salt and pepper
- Add in the pasta, drizzle in some of the reserved pasta water, stir to combine. Cook for 2 minutes.
- Add in the lemon juice, lemon zest, dill and parsley. Stir to combine.
- Serve with chili oil (if using)
Anjali Nair
I can't wait to try this recipe!
Jill Patel
Thanks Anjali! Hope you love it!
Jeannie
you have me at chili garlic oil 🙂 I can't have seafood so I'll just omit that but this recipe looks really good and I love carbo-loading for my next run. Thanks for sharing! I'm always down with pasta,
Jill Patel
Thanks Jeannie! Yes the chili garlic oil is a total game changer for this dish! No worries about the seafood, just switch it up with your favorite veggie: zucchini, bell peppers, even eggplant!