Dungeness Crab Pasta with Wine, Fried Meyer Lemon Slices and Fried Capers
Simple ingredients are sublime in this positively fresh pasta dish.
Cook Time15minutes
Total Time15minutes
AuthorLemons & Anchovies
Ingredients
1poundspaghettieither fresh or dry would be okay; my fresh pasta yielded about 14.5 ounces
About 1/2 pound8 ounces lump crab meat
6clovesgarlicsliced thinly
Dried chili flakesto taste
1/2cupwhite wine
1Meyer lemonsliced thinly (half will be fried (seeds removed), the other half for garnish)
Another 1/2 lemon for its zest and juice
About 2 tablespoons capersdrained and mashed a little
salt and pepperto taste
1/4 - 1/3cupfruity olive oil for the sauce plus more for frying the lemons and capers.
2tablespoonschopped fresh Italian parsley plus more for garnish
**Breading for the lemon slices: Combine all ingredients below in a small bowl***
2tablespoonsflour
1tablespoonbread crumbs
1/2tbspkosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
To prepare fresh pasta, please click here for the recipe. Feel free to use dried spaghetti if you wish. Bring a pot of water to a boil.
To prepare the capers: First drain the capers and press with a spoon just once or twice to expel more of the liquid. Heat a bit of olive oil in a small pan over medium high heat. When the oil is hot, add the capers. They will sizzle a lot but watch them carefully as they will cook very fast, under a minute. Any longer and they will get too brown. Remove from the pan and transfer to a plate lined with a paper towel. Set aside.
To Prepare the fried lemon slices: Using the same pan and oil that you fried the capers in, dredge the slices in the flour mixture, shaking off the excess, then add them to the pan. Fry on each side over medium heat for 1-2 minutes on each side. You'll lose some of the lemon pulps in the pan causing some sizzling but it's okay. Drain the lemons on the same plate lined with a paper towel. They should crisp up as they cool. Set aside.
To prepare the sauce (this would be a good time to put the pasta in the pot to cook): Heat the 1/4 - 1/3 cup olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the chili flakes and garlic and cook for only a minute. Be careful not to let the garlic get too brown; turn your heat down if you see that they're cooking too fast. Add the wine and turn the heat up a bit. Add the lemon juice, lemon zest and season with salt and pepper to taste. Add 2 tbsp of chopped parsley.
Right before you add the pasta to the sauce, add the most of the crab, leaving some behind to top the plates. Stir them around the sauce for just a minute--the meat is already cooked so you just want it to get to roughly the same temperature as the sauce. Add the cooked pasta and toss well to combine. Arrange on plates and top with the remaining crab, parsley, the fried lemon slices, fried capers and more lemon slices if you wish.
This will serve 3-4 as a first course and 2-3 as an main dish.