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Active Time
30 min
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Total Time
30 min
Delicate crabmeat gives sweetness to a light citrus sauce served on top of pasta.
Ingredients
Makes 6 main-course servings
Step 1
Boil wine, vinegar, and shallot in a 2 1/2- to 3-quart heavy saucepan over moderate heat until liquid is reduced to about 1 tablespoon, about 3 minutes. Add a few tablespoons butter, whisking constantly. Add remaining butter 1 piece at a time, whisking constantly and adding each new piece before previous one has completely melted, lifting pan from heat occasionally to cool mixture. Reduce heat to low, then add crabmeat and cook, stirring occasionally, until just heated through, about 2 minutes.
Step 2
Remove pan from heat and stir in herbs, zest, lemon juice, and salt.
Step 3
Meanwhile, cook pasta in a 6- to 8-quart pot of boiling salted water until al dente. Reserve 3 tablespoons of pasta-cooking water, then drain pasta.
Step 4
Toss pasta with crab sauce and reserved cooking water in a serving bowl. Season with salt and pepper.
Leave a Review
Reviews (29)
Back to TopSauteed 3 oz of pancetta before starting the sauce in the pan, added 1 cup of seafood broth to sauce made from crab shells and omitted the lemon juice. Would 1/2 the tarragon next time but we thought this was an outstanding recipe!
Caginusa
New Jersey
5/5/2019
This was good with a few modifications. I halved the butter and added half a block of chèvre that I had in the fridge. The favors were good, but the quantities were off.
notherrealname
Philadelphia
6/6/2012
4 forks with a little modification. I doubled the sauce except the butter; used 15 Tbsp. butter. Didn't have white wine vinegar, used seasoned rice vinegar with delicious results! Definitely use more lemon zest and just because it punches up the flavor. Substituted 1 lb. bow- tie pasta to give the sauce something to stick to. Used 3 cans lump crab meat, works well in this dish. I had no leftovers!
woodyrn
Milwaukee, WI
4/11/2010
Made this in a pinch for unexpected company with imitation crab and dried herbs. All agreed it was excellent. Highly recommend. Will make again.
Anonymous
Silver Spring, MD
2/7/2010
this worked out great as a light summer supper. Lucky enough to have the herbs already growing out back, and chesapeake jumbo lump was available at the local market. really good. My main comment would be that it is hard not to break the lumps up when stirring in the herbs...
sallieb46
马里兰州巴尔的摩
8/16/2009
I thought this was really bland and I even tried to jazz it up with extra spices but without success. I think it would be better if the crab meat was seasoned or something else I couldn't really put my finger on...
Anonymous
Philadelphia, PA
7/29/2009
This was so-so--my husband enjoyed it, I thought there are lots better ways to use lump crabmeat.
Anonymous
New Orleans
7/1/2009
I used Krab and it was just fine. Love all the herbs and the spike of lemon.
Anonymous
Toronto
4/28/2009
Would do again, but I found the lemon taste to be overpowering. Will reduce lemon portion by at least 1/2 next time. Had to use dried tarragon and mix of herbs was good.
Anonymous
MD
7/30/2008
I used fresh "canned" crab meat from the fresh seafood section of the store, otherwise I followed the recipe exactly. I thought it was very good and worth making as a special dish or when having a dinner party. The butter did make it a bit rich for my palate, so I will try substituing with some olive oil next time. I don't often cook with tarragon, so I enjoyed the fragrant nature of the herb. I am always looking for new flavors to add to our table and this was a nice (if slightly decadant) dish to serve.
vidamarie
DC
9/18/2007
I absolutely loved this dish, and can't wait to have it again. I actually loved all the butter -- so decadent! -- but using olive oil as suggested by some reviewers is a great idea. I also agree that the pasteurized, canned crab (from the refrigerator section, not the tuna shelf!) is just fine here.
Anonymous
California
3/9/2007
This was positively the greatest waste of time and crab ever. The only way to improve it is to not make it.
KevintheCaterer
3/7/2007
I also reduced the butter from 10 tbs to 6, and added 2 tbs of olive oil. I used fresh crabmeat and an "Italian Bouquet" mix of fresh herbs (basil, oregano, thyme) from the store instead of the herbs in the recipe, and added peas. I ladled the whole mix over fettucine florentine, and topped with crushed red pepper and grate parmesan. It was really, really good.
Anonymous
Los Angeles, CA
2/22/2007
I rated the recipe at 3 forks because I think the modifications that I made brought the dish from delicious to outstanding. First off, I reduced the butter from 10 tbsp to 6 and added 2 tbsp olive oil. I added 1 tbsp chopped fresh thyme and 2 tbsp chopped fresh mint to the herb mixture. Also, I added 1/2 tsp. crushed dried red pepper, which gave it a nice kick! I also added freshly grated parmesan cheese (1/4 cup) as a garnish. Delicious!!! Also, I highly recommend the large, 1lb can of fresh crabmeat from Trader Joe's.
prochwil
Winchester, MA
1/17/2007
was really excited to try this one, but would not do again. expected more subtle flavors, but as other reviewers pointed the tarragon is too overwhelming.
nadja
new york, NY
9/14/2006
