Spicy Crab Marinara Pasta is a must for Christmas Eve’s Feast of the Seven Fishes dinner and a family favorite to be enjoyed any time of the year. Just enough spicy heat and sweet crab meat, Spicy Crab Marinara Pasta is nonetheless easy to prepare and never fails to impress from its presentation to its rich and zesty taste. Choose a fun, fancifully-shaped pasta for this dish; we chose creste di gallo (cocks combs) but radiatore (radiators) or lumachine (small snails) would also work well to hold the zesty sauce and bits of crab meat. For a special dinner, start with Family-style Rustic Escarole Salad and move on to Spicy Crab Marinara Pasta, pairing both courses with a dry white wine or prosecco.
Prep Time: 10 minutes, Cooking Time: 30 minutes, Total Time: 40 minutes. Serves 4 to 6 persons.
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Ingredients:
- ¼ cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 1 ½ cup minced Onion
- 1 ½ Tbs minced Garlic
- 1 Tb minced fresh Parsley, divided
- ¼ tsp coarse Sea Salt
- ½ Tb Crushed Red Pepper flakes
- 1 tsp Aleppo Pepper flakes
- ½ tsp Sweet Smoked Paprika
- ½ tsp Hot Smoked Paprika
- ½ tsp dried Oregano leaves
- ½ tsp dried Basil leaves
- 28 oz Crushed Tomatoes
- ½ cup dry White Wine
- 1 Bay Leaf, preferably fresh
- 1 lb canned lump or claw Crab Meat, drained and any shell fragments removed, reserving a tablespoon of crab meat per plate
- 3 oz dried Pasta per person
Preparation:
- Pour the extra virgin olive oil into a 3-quart saucepan over a medium heat. Add the minced onion and garlic to the saucepan, stir and cook, uncovered, until the onion has softened and is turning golden.
- Add the sea salt, crushed red and Aleppo pepper flakes, sweet and hot smoked paprikas, oregano and basil leaves and half the minced parsley to the saucepan, stir and continue to cook for 1 minute to allow the seasonings to bloom.
- Bring a large pot of well-salted water to a boil.
- Add the crushed tomatoes, white wine and bay leaf to the saucepan, stir, cover and cook over a medium heat for 15 minutes.
- Add the pasta to the boiling water and cook until al dente.
- Add the crab meat to the saucepan, stir to mix into the sauce, cook, covered, over a medium-low heat for 5 minutes.
- Drain and spoon the cooked pasta into wide bowls, discard the bay leaf, spoon the sauce over the pasta, top each bowl with a tablespoon of crab meat and sprinkle the remaining half tablespoon of minced parsley over the top of each bowl. Serve Spicy Crab Marinara Pasta immediately.
