Pazzo Blue Crab And Pasta

Total Time: 1 hr 15 mins
Preparation Time: 15 mins
Cook Time: 1 hr

Ingredients

• Servings: 4


• 6 tablespoons olive oil


• 3 tablespoons fresh garlic, minced


• 3 tablespoons fresh shallots, minced


• 8 blue crabs, with claws cleaned, broken in half


• 1 cup dry wine


• 2 (28 ounce) cans italian-style peeled tomatoes


• 1 tablespoon mixed fresh herbs, chopped (thyme, oregano, rosemary)


• red pepper flakes


• 1/2 teaspoon salt


• 3 -4 tablespoons fresh italian parsley, chopped


• 16 ounces linguine, cooked al dente


• 8 ounces fresh crabmeat (optional)

Recipe

• 1 heat the olive oil in a 16-inch fry or braising pan with high sides (3 inches) over medium heat. saute garlic and shallots until opaque, 2 to 3 minutes.


• 2 add crabs in the shell and cook, stirring occasionally, until juices leak into pan and crabs are turning red, 5 to 7 minutes.


• 3 add the wine.


• 4 bring to a boil and cook for 2 more minutes, or until the wine has cooked off and juices have thickened.


• 5 lower heat.


• 6 with tongs, transfer crab pieces to a large ovenproof serving bowl; cover and keep warm in a 200-degree oven.


• 7 add tomatoes (including juice) to pan.


• 8 with a wooden spoon, scrape any crab bits from the bottom of the pan.


• 9 cover and bring to a boil over high heat, stirring occasionally.


• 10 lower heat.


• 11 add half of the cooked crabs, fresh herbs, red pepper flakes and salt and boil gently, uncovered, stirring occasionally and crushing tomatoes with a potato masher or spoon. reduce heat as sauce thickens, until sauce is reduced to about 4 ½ cups, about 30 minutes. about 15 minutes before sauce is done, in a 6- to 8-quart pan over high heat, bring 3 to 4 quarts water to a boil.


• 12 add pasta, stir to separate, and cook just until barely tender to the bite, about 6 minutes.


• 13 drain well.


• 14 add cooked pasta to the crab/tomato sauce pan and stir well.


• 15 add the fresh crabmeat (if using) and stir gently but thoroughly.


• 16 bring to a simmer over medium heat for about 2 to 3 minutes.


• 17 mound pasta in a wide, shallow serving bowl. remove the remaining cooked crabs from the oven and arrange on top of the pasta.


• 18 sprinkle both crabs and pasta with parsley and serve.