Culinary Tip of the Week: Pasta
Angel Hair Pasta with Crab and Hazelnuts in Lemon Cream

PASTA:

1 lb. imported angel hair pasta
4 TBS olive oil
Zest of one lemon, Mircoplane
2 tsp. minced garlic
¼ cup finely chopped parsley
Salt and pepper to taste

LEMON CREAM:

4½ cups heavy cream
Zest of one lemon, Microplane

TOPPING:

1 TBS olive oil
1 TBS butter
2 TBS minced garlic
2 TBS julienne shallots
1 TBS minced jalapeno
½ lb. fresh real crabmeat, squeezed dry if necessary and picked over
2 TBS finely chopped parsley
2 TBS toasted hazelnuts, coarsely chopped
Juice of ½ lemon
Salt and pepper to taste
3 TBS coarse fresh breadcrumbs
3 TBS butter, softened

Cook the pasta “al dente.”  Do not rinse the cooked pasta, but drain it and toss it with the olive oil, lemon zest, minced garlic, and parsley; season with salt and pepper. In an ovenproof casserole, make small “haystacks” of pasta by twirling with a fork.  Set the haystacks well apart from each other and set aside. 

In a heavy saucepan, reduce the heavy cream with the lemon zest until reduced by half. Strain and keep warm. 

Preheat the oven to 450ºF.

In a large skillet, heat the olive oil and butter.  When hot, add the garlic, shallots, and jalapeño pepper and sauté until just soft.  Add the crabmeat and cook until just heated through.  Add the parsley, hazelnuts, and lemon juice and season well with salt and pepper.

Carefully ladle the lemon cream over the haystacks.

Place a small amount of the crab mixture on top of each haystack and bake in the oven until hot.  Remove and sprinkle each haystack with breadcrumbs and then dot with butter, heat under the broiler until nicely browned.  Serve at once.