This Easy Crab, Lemon and Chilli Tagliatelle is perfect for those evenings when you fancy something a bit lighter for tea. The lemon and chilli give it such a lovely fresh flavour and it feels like something you’d order in a restaurant rather than something you’ve thrown together at home without too much effort.

The funny thing is that until fairly recently, I’d never actually tried crab, mainly because it brought back memories of the awful-smelling little fresh fish stall on the seafront that my Dad used to take me to when he fancied crab for his tea. I can still remember the smell of that place now and I honestly don’t think I’ve ever been anywhere that smelled quite so fishy. 😂

My Dad absolutely loved his seafood though, so whenever we were down at the seafront he’d often want to stop and buy himself some crab. I could be wrong but I’m pretty sure it used to be called dressed crab, which I think involved taking all the meat out of the shell, doing something fancy with it and then putting it all back into the shell again. I’m sure there was more to it than that but I was far too busy wishing we could hurry up and leave to pay much attention to what they were actually doing.

The worst part was that it was never a quick stop either because there always seemed to be a huge queue of people waiting for the fishing boats to come back with their daily catch. Everyone was desperate to get their hands on the freshest of fresh seafood and there was me, standing in the middle of it all wondering why on earth anyone would willingly queue up to buy something that smelled so awful. Looking back, I can appreciate how lucky we were to have somewhere like that on our doorstep but I definitely didn’t appreciate it at the time.

Things have changed so much since then and that little fish stall closed down years ago. Even the fresh fish shop in our seaside town has gone now, which is such a shame when I think about how busy the seafront used to be with people buying fish straight from the boats. I have some lovely memories of spending time down there with my Dad, even if the trips to buy crab weren’t exactly the highlight of my childhood.

These days, I’m much more likely to buy crab from the supermarket, where it comes in a neat little tin or tub that’s ready to use without me having to do anything with it. I know it’s not quite the same as buying freshly caught crab from the seafront and I’m pretty sure my Dad would have had something to say about that, but I have to admit that the convenience suits me perfectly. There’s no messing about with shells, no preparation and, most importantly, none of that smell I remember so well from when I was little. 😉

I finally decided to give crab a go when I was looking for something a bit different to make with pasta and I’m really glad I did because this turned out to be such a lovely meal. I’ve always liked the combination of lemon and chilli and they work so well with the crab, giving it plenty of flavour without overpowering it. The lemon keeps everything tasting fresh while the chilli adds a little bit of warmth and the tagliatelle brings it all together into a really nice dinner.

I also love that it’s so different from the pasta dishes I’d normally make. We eat pasta quite regularly because it’s quick, easy and something I always have in the cupboard, but it’s very easy to get into the habit of making the same few meals over and over again. This feels a bit more special without involving a long list of ingredients or loads of preparation, which is exactly the sort of recipe I like having up my sleeve.

Crab isn’t something I’d necessarily buy every week, especially when I’m trying to keep our food shopping costs down, but I don’t mind spending a little more on an ingredient every now and again when it makes a meal feel like a treat. And because I used prepared crab meat, I didn’t have to worry about buying a whole crab and working out what on earth I was supposed to do with it.

Yield: Serves 2

Easy Crab, Lemon and Chilli Tagliatelle...

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 15 minutes

This Easy Crab, Lemon and Chilli Tagliatelle is super tasty and a perfect light supper of lunch for two of you.

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Ingredients

• 1 red chilli, finely chopped
• 2/3 cloves of garlic finely chopped
• 1 lemon, zested and juiced
• 250g fresh tagliatelle
• 100g tub of crab meat
• Olive oil
• Grated parmesan to serve

Instructions

1. In a pan of boiling salted water, cook the tagliatelle according to the instructions on the pack.
2. In a large pan like a wok, gently heat the chilli, garlic, lemon zest and crab meat along with the lemon juice.
3. When the Tagliatelle is cooked drain it and add it to the carb meat mix and give it all a good stir to mix it in.
4. Top with freshly grated parmesan to serve.

I think my Dad would have been quite pleased that I’d finally got over my childhood memories of that fish stall and tried one of his favourite foods. I’m not convinced he’d have approved of my supermarket crab in a tin rather than something freshly caught that morning, but I’d like to think he’d have enjoyed this crab, lemon and chilli tagliatelle all the same.

Although if he’d suggested we pop down to the seafront afterwards to buy some more crab, I suspect I’d still have found an excuse not to go. 😂

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