Pasta with Crab/Shrimp & Lemon

Pasta with Crab (or Shrimp) & Lemon
From The Illustrated Quick Cook: Easy Entertaining, After-Work Recipes, Cheap Eats

Printable Recipe

Prep time: 15-20 minutes
Cooking time: 5 minutes

Serves 2-4

Ingredients:
1 tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, cut into quarters and then thinly sliced across
Salt & freshly ground pepper to taste
2 large cloves garlic, thinly sliced, or coarsely chopped
1 large lemon, grated zest and juice
7oz/200g fresh or canned crab meat…I didn’t have any on hand so I used shrimps…I always have those in the freezer, ready to defrost in less than 5 minutes)
Handful of fresh Italian/flat leaf parsley, chopped
Chili oil or a pinch of red chili pepper flakes

12oz/350g linguine or whatever pasta you prefer…long & skinny seems best

Directions:

1. Bring salted water to a boil in a large Dutch oven.

2. In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium low heat and cook the onions with a pinch of salt until they are soft NOT brown (about 5 minutes). Add the garlic and lemon zest and stir just until fragrant…less than 1 minute.

3. Add the pasta to the boiling salted water and cook until al dente (usually 7-8 minutes for dried, less for fresh). Drain and reserve ½ cup of cooking water. I didn’t need any this time, but sometimes you do to make the sauce a little more “velvety”. Better to have some sitting on the counter and spilled out later than not have some when you want it.

4. Add the crab/shrimp to the skillet along with the parsley (crab is already cooked, so it just needs to be heated up for a couple of minutes. The shrimp need to be cooked until they are opaque, turning to pink – about 3 minutes or so). Season with lots of pepper and add the lemon juice. Taste for seasoning. This is when you would add the chili oil or red pepper flakes if you want some heat.

5. Add the drained the pasta to the skillet. Toss, adjust seasonings and serve.