A new twist on pasta: Crab, chilli and lemon 

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A new twist on pasta: Crab, chilli and lemon

By Laura Santini

Published: | Updated:

This is one of the most popular pastas served at my restaurant Santini in London. It is light, clean, fresh and super tasty.

SERVES 2

200g cooked picked white crabmeat

a handful (about 10g) of flat-leaf parsley, chopped

4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, plus extra if needed

grated zest and freshly squeezed juice of 1 lemon

2 garlic cloves, squashed, peeled and halved lengthways

1 red chilli, deseeded and  finely chopped

200g dried pasta or 160g fresh pasta

salt and freshly ground

black pepper

  • Put a large pan of salted water on to boil. Combine the ingredients apart from the pasta in a bowl. This is a fairly loose sauce, therefore add extra olive oil if it is too dry, and season with salt and pepper.
  • When the salted water is at a rolling boil, add the pasta and cook according to the packet instructions. Drain the pasta, but keep a cup of the cooking water.
  • Tip the pasta back into the pan, add the crab mixture and a small splash of the retained water. Toss with gusto until creamy and well combined. Remove the halved garlic cloves and serve immediately.

TIP You can use half white crabmeat and half brown for a more intense crab flavour.