This recipe is loosely based on a Nigella Lawson that I’ve made many times and adapted into a pasta salad recipe (hope she doesn’t mind!) It still tastes delicious.
Crab Pasta Salad
3 cups bowtie pasta
1 red pepper, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
1 package fake crab meat
¼ cup olive oil
1 clove garlic
juice and zest of 1 lemon
1t chilli paste
salt and pepper to taste
Measure out and cook pasta in salty water until tender, about 10 minutes. I used 3 cups, because I have no idea what pasta weighs, and it always seems different here in Canada – a recipe will say 1 pound of pasta, and my bag will be in grams, and then I’ll have to rush over to the computer to try to convert it into cups…it’s just easier for me to measure it out! I’m not really a gourmet chef, no matter how hard I try.
While your pasta is cooking, chop up your veggies: red and green pepper. I was going to add some red onion, but it looked a bit shrivelly. Shrivelled? Is shrivelly a word? Also, chop up the crab and add it to the veggies.
Then, make the dressing: mix oil (I used ¼ cup but probably could have done less, it was a bit too oily the next day), juice and zest of 1 lemon, 1 clove minced garlic, and salt and pepper to taste.
And…the secret ingredient! I found this chilli paste at my grocery store, and used 1.5 teaspoons. We loved it, but it is a bit spicy. Maybe start at 1 t and add more to taste. Red pepper flakes would be a good substitute. The original recipe calls for a real chilli, seeded and crushed. But I’ve never been able to find a real chilli at the store so I’ve never used one.
So…add the chilli, in whatever form you have!
Drain the pasta, and add the veggies. Dump dressing over everything and mix. Keeps well for a few days in the refrigerator and is good cold as well as warm.
