Frozen crab meat can be bought at good seafood suppliers – the quality of Rocklife brand from Queensland is excellent, and a little goes a long way. This dish is all about the crab, pasta and fresh flavour of a delicious extra-virgin olive oil, so don't hold back.
Spaghetti and spanner crab meat
This is such a special dish and a good reason to keep a packet of frozen spanner crab meat ready in case guests arrive unexpectedly for dinner.
- Serves 6
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Ingredients
- 500 gm dried spaghetti (see note)
- 2 garlic cloves, very thinly sliced
- 80 ml (⅓ cup) extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra to serve
- ¼ cup finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
- 500 gm frozen raw spanner crab meat, thawed
- 1 long red chilli, thinly sliced
Method
- 1Bring 4 litres of water and 1½ tbsp salt to the boil in a large saucepan, add pasta and cook until al dente (8-9 minutes).
- 2Meanwhile, heat a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add garlic and 60ml oil, and stir until garlic starts to turn golden (1 minute). Add parsley, stir for 30 seconds, then add crab and chilli. Season with a little salt, then add remaining oil, stir to combine and remove from heat. Drain pasta and add with a little pasta water, season to taste, toss to combine and serve drizzled with extra oil.
Notes
Brigitte Hafner uses Martelli spaghetti for this dish, available from select delis and grocers.
