Pasta with Crab #FishFridayFoodies

I want to start off this post by saying "you're welcome".  Does anyone else sing the Moana song in their head every time they say you're welcome or is it just me?

I'm saying you're welcome because you, my friends, are going to be so grateful for this easy, peasy delicious recipe to get you through these last couple weeks of Lent.

Today is Fish Friday Foodies and our host, Paula of The Saucy Southerner, invited us to "Get Crabby".

I had a ton of ideas for this theme.  I LOVE crab and I had found some beautiful lump crab meat at my market that was all cooked, removed from the shell and picked over.  That right there saves a lot of time. 

My first instinct was crab cakes.  I love them and I have never made them myself.  Then, as with all the best laid plans, life got busy.  I was running late one evening and had not prepared the meal I had on my menu plan.  Nights like that are inevitably pasta nights because it is so quick and easy.  I pulled out the pasta and looked to see what I had in the refrigerator.  There, staring me in the face, was that lovely lump crab.  Perfect.  I would use it for my impromptu pasta dish and then buy some more for the crab cakes.

Yep, life got very busy.  No more crab was bought.  No crab cakes were made.  Thank Goodness I snapped some photos of this pasta so I had something to share with you today.

I sautéed up some onions, garlic in a generous amount of olive oil adding some crushed red pepper and salt while the pasta boiled.  

The pasta went right from the cooking water into the saute pan and the crab got gently folded in.  Hmmmm.....it looks rather bland.  Back to the refrigerator.

Thankfully, I usually have some sort of leafy green in my refrigerator.  In this case there was a couple of handfuls of baby spinach left.  That got added right to the pasta with a little bit of the cooking water to help it wilt.

That's it!! Five ingredients.  Twenty minutes.  Dinner is served and enjoyed by all.  This would make a great pasta course during a dinner party and I know I will be making it again.   But first, I'm going to make those crab cakes I've been craving. I hope one of our group shares a great recipe that I can try.  You will find links to all the Crabby Creations below.

This recipe served two adults with leftovers available for lunch the following day.

Pasta with Crab

3 T. olive oil

1/2 small sweet onion, diced

3-4 cloves garlic, peeled and thinly sliced

salt and crushed red pepper to taste

1/2 lb pasta, cooked per package directions

8 oz. prepared lump crab meat, found in the refrigerated section of the seafood counter

2 or 3 handfuls of baby spinach leaves

1/4 c. pasta cooking water

Saute the onion and garlic in a large skillet over med high heat.  Season with salt and crushed red pepper.  Add the pasta to the vegetables and combine over low heat.  Fold in the crab and spinach leaves, adding pasta cooking water as needed, until heated through and the spinach is wilted.  Print Recipe

More Crabby Creations

An InLinkz Link-up