Farfalle with Sriracha Crab Sauce

This is a recipe I've been making for almost 25 years. It's a favorite in the Gruggen household. It's simple to make and has just five sublime ingredients: pasta, butter, crab, garlic and Sriracha. I first posted this recipe in 2010 in the very first month of my food blogging. I am re-posting today because over time I have tweaked the ingredient list.

Back in 2010, I thought butter was butter. But in reality, there is butter and then there is Kerrygold butter. Kerrygold butter is made in Ireland and sourced from grass-fed cows. It's paleo and has a high fat content...hence it's nearness and dearness to my heart. I buy it at Costco. And I love the taste of it.

I also get my lump crab from Costco. I like the lump crab because it helps make this a really quick weeknight dinner (from start to finish is under 15 minutes). If you want to make this dish super-rich and amp it up to a "guests for dinner" meal, you can use Alaskan King Crab meat. It does add quite a bit of work, though, as you will need to remove the meat from the leg shells.

Back in 2010, Tabasco was my "go-to" hot sauce. These days I prefer Sriracha. I find it be be a little hotter than Tabasco and it has a lot more depth of flavor. Truth be told, you can use any hot sauce that wets your whistle....but I'm reaching for Sriracha when I open my pantry door.

Also, make sure you use a high quality semolina pasta for this dish. Whole wheat pasta would taste terrible with this combination of ingredients. This recipe serves four.


Ingredients

1 pound of lump crab meat

8 ounces of butter (2 sticks of regular butter or 1 stick of Kerrygold)
10 garlic cloves, minced
3 tablespoons of Sriracha (or more to taste)
16 ounces of Farfalle 
3 tablespoons of salt


Directions

1. Fill a large pot with water. Add 3 tablespoons of salt and bring to a boil
2. In a large saucepan, melt the butter over low heat.
3. When the butter is melted, adjust temperature to medium and add minced garlic. Saute until garlic is fragrant, about 3 minutes.
4. Adjust temperature to low. Add crab and Sriracha to garlic/butter mixture. Heat for 10 minutes, stirring every few minutes.
5. Add Farfalle to large pot and cook until al dente (about 1 minute less than what the package calls for).
6. When cooked, drain pasta. Divide into serving bowls or plates.
7. Place a giant helping of the hot crab sauce on top of the Farfalle on each bowl or plate and serve.

Wine pairing: The heat of this recipe makes it ideal for either a white or red wine. If you prefer white, choose a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc. If you are a red lover, grab a Zinfandel....a Rombauer, if you are really lucky.