Creamy Crab Pasta (Secret Recipe Club)

It's time for January's Secret Recipe Club! In the SRC as we all call it, we are assigned a blog from which we make a recipe and blog about it, while someone makes one of ours in turn. It's a secret until our assigned Reveal Day, which is today. This month, we were assigned the blog Mele Cotte, which is written by Chris, and which happens to already be on our blog roll. We have a lot in common with Chris (besides the name, that is). Chris is a middle school administrator who uses her blog as a personal diary of recipes, but also as a (very cheap) form of after-school therapy. Sound familiar?

Mele Cotte has so many recipes and beautiful photographs that accompany them, making it very difficult to choose what to make. But as often happens, the contents of our refrigerator made the decision for us. A couple of weeks back, our grocery had a sale on jumbo lump crab meat, and that can has been taunting us from the shelf since then. Chris's recipe for Creamy Crab Pasta sounded like the perfect vehicle, plus it had "comfort food" written all over it!

We made a few changes, not because we doubted Chris or her recipe, but again, based on the contents of our refrigerator. It's been a lazy couple of weeks. Regardless, the dish was everything we hoped it would be - a deliciously creamy pasta with chunks of sweet crab thank clung to the pasta in a dreamy way. Luscious!

Creamy Crab Pasta

minimally adapted from this recipe on Mele Cotte

Ingredients:

¼ cup unsalted butter

¼ cup all purpose flour

2 cups half and half

½ cup grated Pecorino Romano cheese, plus more for garnish

¼ teaspoon. ground nutmeg

kosher salt, white pepper, and black pepper to taste

1 lb. cooked lump crab meat

1 lb. cooked rigatoni pasta

In a large saucepan or deep skillet, melt the butter over medium heat. Whisk in the flour and cook about 1 minute, until thick and combined, but not discolored. Whisk in cream, and stir until the sauce begins to thicken. Stir in the cheese and seasons to taste. Simmer for a few minutes to blend the flavors, and stir in the crab meat. Cook just until the crab is heated through. 

Serve over cooked pasta of choice. Top with additional cheese and pepper, if preferred.

Creole Crab Imperial

We are traveling to New Orleans in about a month and Amy can't wait. She totally has New Orleans on the brain, particularly when it comes to food. Yes, the cravings are starting up - crawfish, Gulf shrimp, beignets, coffee with chicory, red beans, andouille, gumbo, the list goes on and on. This week, it was all about crab, and this recipe was inspired by another food blogger/teacher Chef Dennis. His recent recipe for Crab Imperial looked so tasty and sounded so easy, we decided to indulge our craving and made it ourselves, adding a delicious crunchy butter-and-breadcrumb topping to ours. This classic recipe really allowed the deliciously sweet lump crabmeat to shine through. A touch of Tony Chachere's Creole Seasoning gave it that Big Easy kick. With a salad made with romaine lettuce from our neighbor's garden and some delicious fresh bread, this was a wholly satisfying meal. Yum!

Make the imperial sauce

Look at that crabmeat!

Fold in the crabmeat, gently.

Top with buttery seasoned panko and place in oven.

Creole Crab Imperial

slightly adapted and used with permission from A Culinary Journey with Chef Dennis, Maryland Jumbo Lump Crab Imperial

Ingredients:

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1 teaspoon sugar

2 teaspoons Creole seasoning (divided)

1 teaspoon finely chopped Italian parsley plus a little more for garnish

1 large egg

squeeze of fresh lemon juice

1 pound jumbo lump crabmeat

1/2 cup panko style breadcrumbs

1/2 stick butter, melted

In a large bowl, mix mayonnaise, sugar, 1 teaspoon Creole seasoning, parsley, egg and lemon juice. Gently fold in the crabmeat, taking care not to break it up. Place crab mixture into a casserole dish. Mix melted butter, remaining teaspoon of Creole seasoning, and panko together and lay on top of the crab mixture. Bake at 400 for 25-30 minutes, until hot and bubbly with a golden brown top. Serve garnished with additional chopped parsley.

Farewell to The Minimalist: Tomato, Fennel and Crab Soup

As you may know, Mark Bittman's New York Times column, The Minimalist, ran for the last time last week. The column was required reading in our house, where, like Bittman, we are proponents of good eating through simple cooking. To that end, we wanted to make one of Bittman's recipes with items we already had or could easily, and cheaply, get. It was the fennel left over from our wild boar roast that pointed us in the right direction. That, a coupon for some crabmeat, and items from our pantry, was everything we needed to make his Tomato, Fennel and Crab soup. This recipe is copied from epicurious.com. We'll miss The Minimalist but look forward to more from Mark Bittman.

Note: The only change we made was to include fewer onions (about 3 cups instead of 3 1/2).

Ingredients:

1/4 cup olive oil

3 1/2 cups chopped onions

2 medium fennel bulbs with fronds; bulbs cored, thinly sliced, fronds chopped and reserved

3 large garlic cloves, minced

2 14 1/2-ounce cans diced tomatoes in juice

2 cups (or more) vegetable broth

8 ounces fresh crabmeat, picked over

Additional olive oil

4 1/2-inch-thick slices pain rustique or rustic whole wheat bread, toasted

Heat 1/4 cup oil in heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Add onions, fennel slices, and garlic; sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper. Sauté until onions and fennel are tender, stirring often and adjusting heat to medium if browning too quickly, about 15 minutes. Add tomatoes with juice and 2 cups broth and bring to boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer until flavors blend and vegetables are very tender, about 15 minutes. Stir in crabmeat and add more broth by 1/4 cupfuls to thin soup, if desired; simmer just until heated through, 3 to 4 minutes. Season soup with salt and pepper. Divide soup among bowls. Sprinkle each with chopped fennel fronds. Drizzle each serving with oil. Serve with toasts.