There’s something magical about combining the richness of cream with the delicate sweetness of crab. Creamy Crab Linguine is one of those dishes that feels both elegant and effortless—like something you’d order at a seaside trattoria, but that comes together beautifully in your own kitchen.

It’s the kind of meal that turns an ordinary evening into something special. Silky pasta, sweet crab meat, and a touch of lemon and garlic—it’s luxury in a bowl, and you don’t need hours in the kitchen to make it happen.

What will you need?

• Crab legs
• salt
• shallot
• carrots
• celery
• garlic
• black pepper
• red chili flakes
• fennel seeds
• extra virgin olive oil
• fresh basil
• zest and juice of lemon
• white wine
• water
• linguinie pasta
• unsalted butter
• fresh chives
• parmesan cheese

How to make Creamy Crab Linguinie

Start by boiling the crab in salted water. Once cooked, shock in ice water to stop from over cooking. Remove the meat from the shell and chop. Set aside.

Add extra virgin olive oil to a pan. Add in the crab shells, shallots, carrots, celery, and garlic. Sauté until the veggies are soft. Add in salt, pepper, chili flakes and fennel seeds and sauté. Tear in some fresh basil and zest from a lemon. Pour in some wine and cook until the alcohol burns off. Pour in some water and let simmer. Strain the broth into a bowl and set aside.

Add extra virgin olive oil to a pan and sauté some shallot and garlic. Pour in some of the broth and reduce. Add the pasta to salted boiling water. While the pasta is boiling add some knobs of butter to the sauce and swirl the pan until the butter is fully incorporated. Add lemon juice and then the cooked pasta to the pan and mix. Pour in some pasta water and mix until the sauce becomes nice and creamy. Add in the crab meat and some chives. Finish with parmesan and taste for salt.

Serve the creamy pasta in a bowl or plate and spoon over more sauce. Top with fresh basil. Hope you enjoy.

Creamy Crab Linguinie

5 from 2 votes

Recipe by Zachary Rodriguez Course: MainDifficulty: Intermediate

Servings

4

servings

Prep time

30

minutes

Cooking time

40

minutes

Calories

300

kcal

Ingredients

• 1 lb 1 crab legs

• salt

• 1/2 tsp 1/2 black pepper

• 1 1 shallot, diced

• 2 2 carrots, diced

• 2 2 stalks of celery, diced

• 3 3 garlic cloves

• 3 tbsp 3 extra virgin olive oil

• 1/2 tsp 1/2 red chili flakes, add less or more depending how spicy you want it

• 1 tsp 1 fennel seeds

• 5 5 basil leaves, plus more for garnish

• zest and juice from 1 lemon

• 1/2 cup 1/2 white wine

• 1 cup 1 water

• 1 lb 1 linguine

• 3 tbsp 3 unsalted butter

• 2 tsp 2 fresh chives, chopped

• freshly grated parmesan

Directions

• Start by boiling the crab legs in salted water for 3 minutes. Remove and shock them in a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking. Now remove the meat from the shells and set aside.
• Heat a pan over medium and add in 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil. Add in the shells from the crab, the carrots, celery, half the shallot, and 3 cloves of garlic. Sauté for a few minutes until the veggies start to soften and become fragrant. Next add in a half teaspoon of salt, the black pepper, the chili flakes, and the fennel seeds. Sauté for 2 minutes. Next tear in the basil and add the lemon zest. Pour in the wine and let cook 3 minutes. Pour in the water and bring to a light simmer. Simmer for 10 minutes. Pour the broth through a fine mesh strainer and set aside.
• Add in the last tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil to a pan over medium heat and sauté the other half of the diced shallot until soft. About 2 minutes. Add in the remaining clove of minced garlic and sauté another 30 seconds. Pour in about 1 cup of the broth. Simmer for 5 minutes to reduce.
• While the sauce is simmering, boil the pasta in salted water per the amount of time the directions say. Add in the butter to the sauce and swirl the pan until fully incorporated then add in the lemon juice. Add in the cooked pasta and mix. Ladle in about a half cup of the pasta water along with the chives and crab meat. Mix together. Grate in some parmesan cheese and mix until the sauce is nice and creamy and coats the back of a spoon.
• Serve the pasta in a bowl and spoon over more of the sauce. Top with fresh basil. Hope you enjoy!