Pasta with Spicy Crab

Texture, heat, and simplicity are the big selling points here. Go for fresh crabmeat if you can get it, frozen crabmeat if you cannot; it doesn’t matter much whether it’s “lump” or other meat in this case.

Salt

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons slivered or minced garlic

2 dried red chiles, or to taste

1 pound any long, cut, or fancy pasta

8 ounces crabmeat, or more to taste

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley leaves

• Bring a large pot of water to a boil and salt it. Put the oil, garlic, chiles, and a large pinch of salt in a broad, deep saucepan over medium-low heat. Cook, shaking the pan now and then, until the garlic colors and just begins to darken, 3 to 5 minutes; turn off the heat.
• Cook the pasta in the boiling water. When it is just about done, turn the heat under the oil back to low and add the crab; stir once or twice. Drain the pasta (reserve a bit of the cooking water) and toss it in the crab sauce to coat. If the mixture seems a bit dry, add some of the reserved cooking water or more olive oil. Stir in the parsley, adjust the seasoning, and serve.
  Pasta with Spicy Shrimp.
  • Substitute 12 ounces large (21–30) peeled shrimp for the crabmeat. Put 2 tablespoons oil in the pan over medium-high heat; when hot, add the shrimp and chiles and cook, stirring occasionally, until the shrimp is just pink, about a minute. Stir in the garlic and cook until the shrimp is cooked, 1 to 2 minutes.
• MAKES: About 4 servings
• TIME: 20 minutes