Quick and easy crab alfredo seafood pasta with a creamy alfredo sauce, chunks of real crab and diced tomatoes on top!
Ingredients
1poundpenne pasta
2tbspbutter
1small onion, diced
4 to 5garlic cloves, finely minced
2tbspall-purpose flour
2cupswhole milk
1 to 1 1/2cupschicken, seafood or veggie broth
1cupgrated Parmesan cheese
1/2tspEACH: black pepper, salt, dried basil
2cupsreal crab, pulled apart or imitation crab, chopped
splash of lemon juice
1large heirloom tomato, seeded and diced
small bunch fresh chives, chopped
ground black pepper
Instructions
Prepare the pasta according to the box instructions while making the sauce. Once it's cooked, drain it and keep it warm and covered.
Melt the butter in a large saute pan and add in the diced onion. Saute the onion for 3 to 4 minutes, until it's translucent but not browned. Next, add the in the garlic and let it cook for a minute. Now, it's time to add the flour. Sprinkle the flour in, toss to coat the onion and garlic in the flour and then let it cook for about 1 minute. The combination of flour and butter makes a roux. The roux is prepared with equal parts butter and flour and is used to thicken the sauce.
Now you're ready to slowly add in the milk. Pour it in slowly, whisking constantly. When you first add the milk, the sauce will be very thick. Keep adding the milk and whisking, until the mixture is smooth. Next, pour in the chicken broth. You can also use seafood broth or veggie broth for this recipe. Next, add in the parmesan cheese and continue cooking the sauce over medium heat until the cheese is completely melted. Now the sauce is ready for the rest of it's ingredients!
Season the sauce with salt, pepper and dried basil. Add in the crab meat and squeeze about 1 tablespoon of fresh lemon juice over the top. Once the pasta is cooked and drained, add it straight into the saute pan and toss to coat the pasta evenly!
For topping this delicious and rich crab pasta, I used sweet heirloom tomatoes. You can also use a few roma or slicing tomatoes if heirloom tomatoes are out of season. Slice the tomato open and remove the seeds, then dice into small pieces. I like to toss the diced tomatoes with chopped chives and season them with black pepper. When you're ready to serve the seafood pasta, add a few spoons of the tomato topping onto each serving.