Spicy Crab Bucatini

This post is sponsored by Garofalo® Pasta. All comments and opinions are my own.

If you’re looking for an elevated yet easy dinner that’s ready in under thirty minutes, this recipe is for you! Nothing compares to an occasional bowl of gorgeous pasta and when we crave it, I use the best possible quality for delicious and consistent results. I’ve always believed (obvious from the kind of work that I do) that creating a meal is about more than cooking, it’s about celebrating family and making sure that everything I put on our table is something I’m always proud to serve.  

Garofalo® was established in 1789 in Gragnano, Italy, the homeland of pasta! They are more than 200 years old and produce gourmet pasta for everyday meals like my grandma’s mezze rigatoni and meat sauce recipe from a few weeks ago, and this spicy crab pasta! You can find a nice selection in the pasta aisle at your local The Fresh Market (one of my favorite stores to spend hours in!) or order online via Instacart if that option is available near you. What makes them different? Garofalo uses a traditional bronze-dye to give their pasta a coarse and porous texture so your sauce will cling to it better, all their pasta is crafted from 100% highest-quality durum wheat semolina, and to be honest, I just think the quality and variety is superior to other brands I’ve tried. Using their bucatini for my spicy crab sauce turned out to be an excellent choice in terms of texture, but please feel free to substitute your favorite shape. Garofalo spaghetti, linguine and calamarata are other shapes that we always have on hand. 

How do I make Spicy Crab Bucatini?

You only need a few high quality ingredients to make this recipe. Crab is in season so if you can find fresh crab, that’s wonderful, however, there are so many frozen and already prepared products these days that are relatively easy to source. I recommend using lump or jumbo lump crab which is mostly white meat in chunks that will hold its own in the sauce. If you’re unable to find crab, a good quality jarred tuna or even scallops could work. 

Start by sautéing sliced sweet yellow onion in olive oil with garlic. Add your favorite chopped tomato sauce, seasoning, fresh parsley and wait for it….chili garlic paste! I find that this Vietnamese condiment brought an incredible depth of flavor to this recipe, and just the right amount of heat to complement the sweetness of the crab. Most of us already have it in our refrigerators so now is the time to get creative and use up those condiments! I hope you give it a try! Other alternatives to chili garlic paste would be Calabrian chili paste, fresh red chili, or dried red pepper flakes but stay away from chili pastes that are too distinctive in flavor like gochujang or sriracha. We want clean heat, not earthy. Once the sauce is cooked down, a bit of pasta water is added and then the cooked crab is folded in. Lastly, we add our Garofalo bucatini to create a next level dinner that everyone will love. Finish off with some lemon juice and zest, and serve with a chilled glass of wine. I hope you love it as much as we do!

Spicy Crab Bucatini
Prep Time: 5 minutes | Cook Time: 20 minutes | Serves: 4

Ingredients

½ lb package Garofalo bucatini pasta
2 tablespoons olive oil or butter
½ yellow onion, thinly sliced
4 cloves garlic, finely minced 
14-16 oz can chopped Italian tomatoes 
1 tablespoon Vietnamese chili garlic sauce
1 teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon fresh black pepper
½ cup chopped flat leaf parsley plus more for serving
1 ½ cups cooked lump crab meat
Optional: fresh lemon juice and zest

Method

Cook bucatini pasta in boiling salted water according to the Garofalo instructions. This shape will cook perfectly in 14 minutes while you prepare the sauce.

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Sauté onion and garlic for 2-3 minutes until onions are translucent, then add tomatoes, chili garlic sauce, salt and pepper. Simmer for 15 minutes until sauce is reduced. Taste to see whether the sauce needs some sugar to balance the acidity. 

Add a few tablespoons of pasta water to the skillet to thin the sauce slightly, followed by crab and parsley. Cook until heated through then toss in strained bucatini. Adjust seasonings, add fresh herbs and lemon then plate and serve immediately. 

Hot Smoked Salmon Potato Soup

When fresh fish is harder to find, we opt for hot smoked salmon from the grocery store. It’s already cooked and keeps well in the refrigerator, is convenient and so delicious in this soup (or stew, whatever you’d like to call it) This recipe is inspired by the Finnish salmon soup called Lohikeitto, but uses hot smoked salmon instead of fresh. It doesn’t take too much time, is satisfying and flavorful because the smoke really comes through even though you flake the fish into the soup towards the end. Letting it sit for a few minutes to steep that flavor is important, so I highly recommend not skipping this step.

I think that a good stock is always the starting point to a delicious soup, so make your own or use the best stock that you can find. Recently I’ve seen quite a few fish stock options online but vegetable stock or chicken stock is perfect! As always, this is a recipe that I make for my family and is a starting point for your gorgeous creation. Please customize it to your liking (add a carrot, use cauliflower instead of potatoes, add spinach toward the end to increase the nutritional value etc.) and substitute the ingredients that you love! Let me know how it went :)

Ingredients:

4 tablespoons salted butter
1 cup finely diced leek (white and light green parts only, about one stalk)
4 cloves finely minced garlic
1 1/2 lbs cubed potatoes (a floury potato will work best)
4 cups (32 ounces/1 carton) fish stock, chicken stock or vegetable stock
1 lb plain hot smoked salmon (this is the one I use, it’s smoked but not woody)
1 cup heavy cream or half n half (I vote for heavy cream!)
1/4 cup fresh dill, roughly chopped
salt and cracked black pepper to taste
optional for color: a pinch of saffron

Method:

Melt butter in a large heavy bottomed pot. Sauté leeks and garlic over low heat until the leeks are tender and garlic is fragrant, about 10 minutes. You really want to break it down to increase the flavor of the soup.

Add the cubed potatoes, stock and optional saffron if your’e using it. Increase the heat to medium, place a lid on and cook until potatoes are fork tender - about 20 minutes. If you need to, top up your liquid to cover the potatoes with either water or more stock.

Remove the lid and reduce heat to low. Flake the hot smoked salmon into the soup (discard the skin), add the heavy cream and simmer for 5 minutes before turning off the heat. If some of your potatoes have not broken down, use a fork to smash them in order to thicken the soup slightly. Add dill, season to taste and let it sit for 10 minutes with the lid on before ladling into bowls.

Low Carb Almond Flour Waffles

These waffles are also widely known as “chaffles” because they often contain cheese. There are groups on Facebook where dedicated low carbers and keto dieters are fully invested in the art of creating new variations. They are made with a few ingredients that most of us have at home and are the perfect substitute for sandwich bread, bagels or crackers when toasted. The Dash Mini Waffle Maker is great for making these, but you could also pour the batter into a larger waffle maker. They freeze and reheat very well in the toaster or toaster oven, perfect for Sunday meal prep. Today I served mine with two different kinds of smoked salmon, some red onion pickled in lemon juice, mini cucumber slices, cream cheese (use the dairy free almond variety if you prefer) and finish it off fresh herbs like chives and dill.

Ingredients for the basic waffles:
Yields: 16

8 large eggs
1/2 cup mayonnaise of your choice (I use Duke’s but avocado oil mayonnaise is also great)
1/2 cup fine almond flour (Bob’s Red Mill is great)
1 level teaspoon baking powder
pinch of salt, garlic powder and smoked paprika, fresh black pepper
8 teaspoons water

Customize it as you like! Some of my favorite options are a few tablespoons of shredded cheddar cheese, adding some Everything Bagel spice (Trader Joe’s), adding chopped herbs or even shredded vegetables like zucchini that’s been pressed to release extra moisture.

Equipment: Mixing bowl, waffle maker

Method:

Stir all ingredients to combine in a medium bowl while preheating your waffle maker. Pour about 2 tablespoons of batter into the waffle maker for each waffle. Cook for 2-4 minutes and carefully lift out with a fork. Repeat the process until all the batter is used up.

Make a smaller batch on a Sunday morning.

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Apricot Garlic Butter Salmon

If you love sweet and savory flavors together, then apricot garlic butter salmon might just become your next go-to meal this Summer. Salmon is a good choice because it’s fatty and will remain juicy, but so is milder arctic char or even steelhead trout. Traditionally we use a fish called snoek in South Africa, a kind of mackerel from the cold waters surrounding the Western Cape. Pairing fish or other meats with stone fruit in recipes is very common because the Western Cape is also considered the agricultural hub of South Africa. Smaller towns are often surrounded by deciduous fruit farms and vineyards, so it only makes sense to use what’s available and this has been the way of life for generations. Many of my favorite South African meals are ones that contain fruit as an ingredient…Bobotie, Cape Malay Chicken Curry, Malva Pudding.

Ideally, this fish would be cooked over a fire outside for it to get that lovely smoked flavor and to allow the apricot preserves to caramelize. If you prefer, cook it over a wood fire (medium coals) in a grill basket and use the sauce to baste. On Friday’s we would sit around a fire while my uncle prepared a whole fish this way, singing songs as he carefully crafted his signature dish. This fish is delicious served simply with steamed haricots verts and boiled fingerlings. If you’re following a ketogenic way of eating, use sugar-free apricot preserves and replace the fingerling potatoes with roasted radish or a crunchy salad.

Apricot & Garlic Butter Salmon
Makes 6 servings

Ingredients:
1 1/2 lb side of salmon, scaled and bones removed
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 tablespoon garlic paste (or 2 cloves fresh garlic cloves, finely minced)
2 tablespoons melted butter
1 tablespoon smooth apricot preserves
1 tablespoon malt vinegar
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

Guidelines:

1. Preheat oven to roast at 375F.  Line a 17 1/2 x 12 1/2 -inch rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. 

2. Place salmon on parchment paper, skin side down. Season with salt and pepper. 

3. In a small bowl, whisk together garlic paste, melted butter, apricot preserves, vinegar and red pepper flakes until smooth. Use a pastry brush to spread this mixture evenly onto the salmon. 

4. Place salmon in the oven and cook for 15 minutes. Turn the oven to broil and cook for another 5 minutes or until slightly caramelized on top. Remove from oven, carefully lift from parchment paper and serve warm. Sometimes I like to toss my boiled potatoes in the juices remaining on the sheet pan and broil them gently for 5 minutes for extra flavor.

Easy Lemongrass Shrimp Skewers

This recipe is brought to you in partnership with FeedFeed and LouAna Oils, using their Liquid Coconut Oil. LouAna Liquid Coconut Oil stays liquid for easy pouring, measuring, sautéing and baking. With no coconut aroma or taste, it’s a perfect substitute for margarine or other cooking oils in recipes. I use it mostly to sauté because it’s keto-friendly and has four times the medium chain triglycerides (mct’s) as virgin coconut oil.

These flavorful shrimp skewers contain very few ingredients, all of which you can find online or at your local Asian grocer. Thai curry paste, lemongrass, garlic, lime juice and zest, Thai basil and the optional chopped red chili all come together with shrimp for a very easy meal that everyone can enjoy.

I’m fortunate to live in the South where Louisiana shrimp are delivered to just about every local seafood shack in town, especially this time of year. While I recommend high quality fresh shrimp for this recipe, frozen is perfectly okay, just thaw them completely in your refrigerator before using.

Using Thai curry paste in these shrimp skewers means you’re adding an ingredient that’s already packed with flavorful aromatics like lime leaf, lemongrass, ginger, garlic and sometimes shrimp paste. It’s a great time-saver for those days when you want delicious in a hurry! Serve with rice, noodles or your favorite side. We prefer cooling cucumber slices, mint, basil and a dash of vinegar.

Easy Lemongrass Shrimp Skewers
Prep time: 15 minutes Cook time: 8-10 minutes Serves: 4

Ingredients:

6-8 long lemongrass stalks
2lbs fresh shrimp, peeled and deveined
2 tablespoons Thai Panang or Red curry paste
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
1/4 cup chopped Thai basil
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
Optional: 1 tablespoon finely minced Thai red chili (deseed for a milder taste)
1-2 tablespoons LouAna Liquid Coconut Oil (find it here!)

Method:

Prepare lemongrass by soaking in cold water to remove any impurities. Using a sharp knife, cut each stalk into 6-8 -inch pieces and set aside.

In the bowl of a food processor with the blade attachment in place, add shrimp, curry paste, garlic, basil, soy sauce, red pepper flakes and optional red chili. Pulse 8-10 times until the shrimp is minced and the mixture is evenly combined.

Wetting your hands prevents the shrimp mixture from sticking to them during the next step. Use your hands to evenly wrap 4 oz portions of the shrimp mixture around the cut lemongrass stalks until all the skewers are made. Press and shape the mixture to make sure it sticks to the stalk.

Heat a large skillet to medium and pour in 1-2 tablespoons LouAna Liquid Coconut Oil. Sauté shrimp skewers in batches for 8-10 minutes until cooked through, rotating every 2 minutes to ensure an even golden color. Serve immediately.

Shrimp Stewed with Tomato, Okra & Bacon

This easy shrimp dinnner with okra and tomatoes was inspired by Shrimp Creole, a popular dish in New Orleans. It has Spanish and French origins but has been adapted over the years with influence from Africa and beyond. My husband DJ grew up in New Orleans and has such a love for Creole and Cajun cooking, so I occasionally attempt. I never liked okra because as you well know, it can be slimy. In applications like stews or braises that very aspect can help thicken the sauce without the need for additional thickeners or carbohydrates. Reduce the sauce as much or little as you’d like until you’ve reached the desired consistency.

Ingredients:
Serves 4

4 strips uncured bacon, chopped
1 cup vidalia onion, finely minced
1/2 cup celery, finely diced
1/2 cup green bell pepper, finely diced
2 teaspoons fresh garlic paste
2 cups pureed tomatoes (I love using Raos sauce for this, even though it’s marinara the flavor is great and it’s keto friendly because of low sugar content)
1 cup sliced okra (frozen or fresh)
1-2 cups seafood or vegetable stock
1 teaspoon Creole seasoning
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 lb raw, peeled and deveined shrimp
1 dash hot sauce
Optional garnish: 1/2 cup chopped chives or green onion
Not so optional: Fresh lemon juice to squeeze over before serving

Method:

Heat a large heavy pot over medium heat. Add bacon, sauté for 5 minutes until cooked through and rendered. Pour off some of the oil then add onion, celery, bell pepper and garlic paste. Cook until softened, about 5 minutes.

Add tomatoes, okra, stock, seasoning and paprika then simmer for 15-20 minutes until flavors meld and liquid is slightly reduced. The okra would have thickened the sauce slightly. Add shrimp and cook for 4-5 minutes until they are pink and cooked through. Remove from heat, add hot sauce and chives.

Serve over rice, cauliflower mash or enjoy as is.