Cheesy Crab Pasta

Published on January 4, 2017 | In American, Italian/French | By tatyanaseverydayfood |

- Prep Time
- 30 Minutes
- Difficulty Level

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Calling all seafood lovers! I have a new, amazing recipe for you to try – creamy, cheesy crab pasta made with real crab, mushrooms, pepper and loads of cheese! This dish is packed with so much incredible flavor, you’ll be floored! And, you can have this delicious pasta on your table in just 30 minutes!

Make sure to watch my video recipe for all the details! Want new recipe updates? Subscribe to my YouTube channel to get a notification each time a new recipe goes live!

This creamy crab pasta recipe has been in my family for years! The original recipe was for stuffed crab shells; we found the recipe in an old thrift-store cookbook. Stuffing shells can be a bit of a hassle, so I’ve tweaked the recipe a little bit over the years. I still enjoy the flavors of this dish just as much as I did when I was a child.

I recommend using real crab for this recipe. It can be a little more pricy than imitation crab but it’s worth the extra dollar. Real crab adds so much incredible flavor that just can’t be substituted!

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Ingredients

1/2 - 3/4 pound pasta shells
olive oil
1 onion, diced
1 green bell pepper, diced
5 white mushrooms, diced
5 garlic cloves, minced
2 roma tomatoes, diced
1/2 pound crab; real or imitation
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon salt
freshly ground black pepper
juice from 1/2 lemon
1 cup white cooking wine
1 cup cream
1 cup parmesan cheese
2 cups mozzarella cheese
fresh parsley, chopped

Instructions

Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil, then add the mini pasta shells. Rotini or penne pasta will also work well. Cook to al dente, drain and set aside.
Prepare the crab sauce. Preheat a large frying pan over medium heat and add a drizzle of olive oil. Add the onion, mushrooms and pepper; season lightly with salt and saute until onion is translucent. Next, add the garlic and diced tomato; saute for a few minutes. Add the crab, smoked paprika, dried basil, lemon juice and white wine. Stir all the ingredients together, then cover and simmer the mixture for 8 to 10 minutes, until the broth is reduced in half.
Add the cream, grated Parmesan and grated mozzarella cheese. Add a sprinkle of chopped parsley. Simmer the sauce until the cheese is completely melted.
Add the cooked pasta to the sauce and toss it in the sauce, then serve.

Servings : 4-6
Course : Main Dish
Recipe Type : Dinner, Lunch, Pasta, Potato & Rice, Seafood Recipes, Video

9 Responses to Cheesy Crab Pasta

Jackie February 7, 2018 at 10:05 pm #

Hi Tatyana

What’s the difference in using regular wine and cooking wine in a recipe, I thought that cooking wine has a lot of salt in it.

Reply
- tatyanaseverydayfood February 8, 2018 at 9:30 am #
  
  You can definitely use regular wine. I would go with a pinot grigio or something light, and adjust the amount of salt since cooking wine does have a ton of salt added!
  
  Reply
- Paul from Long Island September 18, 2018 at 1:48 pm #
  
  Don’t use “cooking wine” (Yuk!) Use regular dry white wine, something you wouldn’t mind drinking with the meal. You won’t miss the excess salt since crab is salty already.
  
  Reply
  - tatyanaseverydayfood September 18, 2018 at 2:15 pm #
    
    I work with a cooking wine brand, just trying to share their products 🙂
    
    Reply
Lianella February 24, 2018 at 6:12 am #

Hey Tatyana, what can I use instead of the wine? Or do I necessarily need it in this recipe?

Reply
- tatyanaseverydayfood February 24, 2018 at 10:32 am #
  
  I recommend adding the wine if you can, it adds great flavor that you just can’t get from anything else. If you absolutely cannot use wine, chicken or veggie broth will work 🙂
  
  Reply
- Paul from Long Island September 18, 2018 at 1:51 pm #
  
  You can use Mirin if you don’t want the alcohol, or Verjus which is also alcohol free. Mirin is slightly sweet, so you may want to cut it with water, 1:1
  
  Reply
Elizabeth May 7, 2018 at 3:19 pm #

I tried this recipe, with a few substitutions. Unfortunately, it turned out ok, not great. The flavors were there, but I used mozzarella Pearl’s, which did not at all incorporate into the sauce. That makes sense, as mozzarella is made in boiling water. I think if I had used the kind that you get pre shredded in a bag it would have worked better.

Reply
- tatyanaseverydayfood May 7, 2018 at 6:36 pm #
  
  I’m so sorry that the mozzarella didn’t incorporate well. I use the preshredded kind, too.
  
  Reply