Repertoire: Spaghetti al Limone With Chiles and Dungeness Crab - San Francisco Chronicle

Repertoire: Spaghetti al Limone With Chiles and Dungeness Crab - San Francisco Chronicle

Intellectually, I know the days are getting longer. But spiritually, practically, I am dragging myself out of bed in the darkness, and we are eating dinner in darkness, and even here in mild Northern California, it still feels like the dead of winter. But sunshine comes in many forms, and a cruise through the farmers’ market to load up on citrus — pink-fleshed Cara Cara’s, Murcott mandarins, clementines, rosy blood oranges — is winter’s consolation prize.

While you’re at it, grab a few lemons, too, so you can make my version of spaghetti al limone, a pantry pasta that I boost with winter’s other culinary consolation prize: Dungeness crab.

Though we are a pasta-obsessed people, and though we are time-pressed home cooks always looking for quick recipes, spaghetti al limone is still unfamiliar to many. We should change that, because it’s simple, requires only a handful of ingredients (most of which you probably have on hand), and the bang-for-buck is unparalleled.

This could be the winter you add this classic to your repertoire, learning in the process how to make a creamy sauce that cloaks each noodle without using cream, relying instead on the transformative properties of starchy pasta cooking water emulsified with butter and good Parmesan cheese. The bright lemon takes two forms: the zest, which you bloom in the melted butter, and the juice, which gets added to taste at the end. I like the zippy acid of a Eureka lemon, but you could use thin-skinned Meyer lemons, too, which are less acidic and add a floral fragrance.

The rings of jalapeño and the crab meat are my own addition, and give the pasta spice and spine, but both are optional. Even without them you’ll still have a remarkable dinner, one you can make until the sun comes out again.

Jessica Battilana is a San Francisco freelance writer and the author of “Repertoire: All the Recipes You Need.” Email: food@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @jbattilana

Spaghetti al Limone With Chiles and Dungeness Crab

The “secret” ingredient in this creamy pasta is not cream, it’s the starchy pasta cooking water, which emulsifies with the butter and the Parmesan cheese to create a beautiful sauce that cloaks each noodle. The crab and chiles are, in theory, optional, but they make this pantry pasta extra-special. You can make this pasta with Meyer lemon zest and juice, but it will be mellower, less acidic, with a more floral fragrance.

Kosher salt

12 ounces dry spaghetti

5 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 jalapeño chile, cut into rings

Zest and juice of 1 lemon

2 cloves minced garlic

1 ounce Parmigiano-Reggiano, finely grated with a Microplane or on the small holes of a box grater

About 6 ounces picked crab meat (from one Dungeness crab)

Flaky salt

Instructions: Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and add the spaghetti.

When the spaghetti is approaching al dente, start the sauce: In a large frying pan over medium heat, melt the butter. When the butter stops foaming, add the chile rings, lemon zest and garlic and cook, stirring, until the garlic is fragrant but not brown, about 45 seconds. Remove from the heat.

When the pasta is al dente, use tongs to transfer it to the frying pan, reserving the pasta water, and return the pan to medium heat. Add the Parmesan cheese and ½ cup of the pasta cooking water, and with tongs, toss the pasta until the cheese has melted, the sauce is emulsified and looks creamy and coats the noodles, adding up to ½ cup additional pasta cooking water as needed. If the cheese begins to form a film on the bottom of the pan, reduce the heat.

Add the crab and some of the lemon juice, beginning with 1 tablespoon and adding more to taste. Transfer to plates or a serving platter, sprinkle with flaky salt and serve right away.

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2020-02-12 12:00:00Z
https://www.sfchronicle.com/recipes/article/Repertoire-Spaghetti-al-Limone-With-Chiles-and-15048328.php
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