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Barney's tips for the perfect crab pasta:

  • If I can get hold of fresh white and brown crab meat, I'll use a combination of both. The white meat is sweet and delicate, while the brown meat adds a richer, deeper flavour to the sauce.
  • Be careful not to overcook the crab. I like to fold it into the pasta right at the end so it's just warmed through, keeping the meat tender and allowing its natural sweetness to shine.
  • Authentically, pasta is cooked in highly-salted water, so it absorbs the seasoning evenly as it cooks. Add 1 tsp of salt to a large pan – it may seem like a lot, but you won’t use most of the water. I also always reserve a mugful of the pasta cooking water before draining. A splash stirred into the sauce helps it coat the linguine and brings all the flavours together without making it heavy.
  • This makes a great meal served with a crisp green salad and some crusty bread. If you have any leftovers, these can be enjoyed cold as a pasta salad for lunch the next day, although I think it's at its very best served straight away.

Units:
  • 400g linguine
  • 4 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 red chilli
    deseeded and chopped
  • 2 garlic cloves
    finely chopped
  • 1 whole cooked crab
    picked, or about 100g/4oz brown crabmeat and 200g/7oz fresh white crabmeat
  • small splash, about 5 tbsp, white wine
  • small squeeze of lemon
    (optional)
  • large handful flat-leaf parsley
    leaves, very finely chopped
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Nutrition: per serving

  • kcal546
  • fat17g
  • saturates2g
  • carbs74g
  • sugars4g
    low
  • fibre3g
  • protein27g
  • salt0.65g
    low
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Method

  • step 1

    Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil and add the linguine. Give it a good stir and boil for 1 min less than the pack says. Stir well occasionally so it doesn’t stick.

  • step 2

    While the pasta cooks, gently heat 3 tbsp of olive oil with the chilli and garlic in a pan large enough to hold all the pasta comfortably. Cook the chilli and garlic very gently until they start to sizzle, then turn up the heat and add the white wine. Simmer everything until the wine and olive oil come together. Then take off the heat and add the brown crabmeat, using a wooden spatula or spoon to mash it into the olive oil to make a thick sauce.

  • step 3

    When the pasta has had its cooking time, taste a strand – it should have a very slight bite. When it’s ready, turn off the heat. Place the sauce on a very low heat and use a pair of kitchen tongs to lift the pasta from the water into the sauce.

  • step 4

    Off the heat, add the white crabmeat and parsley to the pasta with a sprinkling of sea salt. Stir everything together really well, adding a drop of pasta water if it’s starting to get claggy. Taste for seasoning and, if it needs a slight lift, add a small squeeze of lemon. Serve immediately twirled into pasta bowls and drizzled with the remaining oil.

Barney Desmazery
As Good Food's longest-serving team member, Barney has written and tested thousands of recipes, worked with many of Britain's top chefs and created videos, live events and masterclasses. After gaining a chef's dipolma and working in restaurants across London, France and Australia, he joined Good Food, where he specialises in sourdough baking, foraging, seasonal ingredients and open-fire cooking. Barney has also published his own cookbook One Dish Four Ways. See Barney’s recipes.
Barney Desmazery chef headshot

Recipe from Good Food magazine, March 2011

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A star rating of 4.7 out of 5.81 ratings
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