Crab spaghetti in a tomato and caper sauce
Light tomato sauce perfectly balances the flavour of the rich crab meat.
Ingredients
- pancetta: 100²µ/3½´Ç³ú pancetta
- olive oil: 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- garlic: 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- tomatoes: 10 vine-ripened tomatoes, chopped
- chopped tomatoes: 1 x 400g/14oz tin chopped tomatoes
- stock: 250ml/9fl oz fish stock
- red onion: 1 red onion, left whole, peeled and trimmed
- chilli: ½ fresh green chilli, deseeded and chopped
- saffron: pinch saffron
- sugar: ½ tsp sugar
- spaghetti: 500g/1lb 2oz dried spaghetti
- crab: 600g/1lb 5oz mixed cooked brown and white crab meat
- parsley: handful chopped fresh parsley
- capers: 3 tsp capers, rinsed and chopped
- butter: knob of butter
- black pepper: salt and freshly ground black pepper
Method
Fry the pancetta in a large lidded saucepan over a medium heat for 5 minutes. Reduce the heat and add the olive oil and garlic and cook gently for 2 minutes. Add the fresh tomatoes, tinned tomatoes and fish stock and simmer for 5 minutes. Add the whole onion, chilli, saffron and sugar and simmer gently for 10 minutes with the lid on.
Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil and cook the spaghetti according to packet instructions.
Stir the crab meat into the tomato sauce and simmer for 2 minutes. Add the parsley and capers and cook for a further 2 minutes. Remove the whole onion and discard.
Drain the spaghetti and add to the tomato sauce along with a knob of butter. Stir well to coat the spaghetti with the sauce, transfer to platter and serve.
Recipe tips
You could use a whole fresh crab if you prefer. Add the whole crab to the tomato sauce before adding the capers and parsley and cook for 10 minutes with the lid on. Serve the whole crab and spaghetti separately.
