Easy-Peasy: Crab & Sour Orange Spaghetti
My pal Stephanie just set me up with a wealth of crab. I spent the better part of Wednesday evening cracking it all and was left with 2-1/2 lbs of beautiful lump crab meat.
I searched and searched through recipes trying to decide what to make with this marvelous bounty. Mostly, I was uninspired. There were two recipes I ran across that completely challenged my culinary imagination: Mushroom and Crab Chowder from the San Francisco Chronicle and Crab Cakes with Wasabi-Caper Sauce from the new Gourmet Today. I will probably have to make both of these, but right then I couldn't be bothered trying something crazy that I couldn't even get my brain around. I wanted to make a dish that was easy, quick, and tasty.
I thought about what I had on hand. At first I considered crab and lemon risotto and I probably would have made it if I had had the time. But alas, no time to stand over a pot for 45 minutes that night. I decided to fall back on our quick dinner mainstay: pasta. I was thinking a lemon, garlic butter, crab thing would be good. Then I had a flash of inspiration. What about those sour Seville oranges hanging out in the pantry? Oh, yes. Oh. Yes.
This recipe needs a little bit of spice to pull the flavors together, so even if you don't like the hot stuff, drop in just a pinch. It takes all of about 15 minutes to make.
Crab & Sour Orange Spaghetti
(feeds 2 big people and 2 little people)
1 lb spaghetti
6 TBS butter
5 cloves garlic, chopped
Zest of 2 Seville (sour) oranges (*substitute lemons if you can't get sour oranges)
Juice of 1 Seville orange
1-1/3 cups lump crab meat
Salt
Crushed Red Pepper to taste
Bring buttered, salted water to a boil. When the water is ready add the pasta.
Meanwhile, melt butter in a skillet over medium-low heat. Add garlic and sauté a couple of minutes. Add orange zest. (Butter will foam up.) Sauté for a couple of minutes more. Keep warm over low heat.
Before draining pasta reserve 2 cups pasta water.
Drain pasta and put in a large bowl. Pour garlic orange butter over the noodles. Add crab. Squeeze the juice of one Seville orange over the pasta and slowly add pasta water until the noodles are moist and ever-so-slightly saucy. Mix well. Salt to taste and add crushed red pepper.
I just finished off the leftovers from last night and the unique flavor of the orange with the spice is terrific. mmmm.
