Crunchy Crab with Butternut Squash Noodles Tomatoes & Chilies
Serves 4
Have you ever eaten at a restaurant and thought, I’d love to make this dish at home. This is how this dish was created. I did change things up a little. Instead of the usual pasta, I decided to make mine with butternut squash noodles. The original sauce had cream in it. I tried it with Greek yogurt, but it didn’t turn out exactly how I wanted so back to the drawing board. Try, try again is a great moto for a chef. You have to keep trying until you prefect the dish to your liking. A successful recipe always comes back to good quality ingredients. I’ve found the less the number of ingredients the better. Let the ingredients speak for themselves. They will in this dish. It takes about ten minutes to make. You won’t believe the taste, texture, aroma, and visual appeal. Hope you like it as much as we do.
Ingredients:
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
4 medium cloves garlic, peeled and cut into thin slices
1 red chili pepper, deseeded and minced
2 cups cherry tomatoes, cut in half
Sea salt (optional)
Freshly ground black pepper (optional)
2 slices whole wheat bread, roughly torn
2 tablespoons freshly chopped chives
2 tablespoons freshly chopped Italian parsley
1 tablespoon pistachio nuts, crushed
1 pound fresh Butternut squash noodles
12oz jumbo lump fresh crab meat
How to make:
Heat two tablespoons olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Toss in the garlic and red chili when the oil is hot. Cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant but not browned, about one minute.
Add tomatoes and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer. Cook, stirring occasionally, until lightly reduced, about five minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
While the sauce is cooking, combine the bread and pistachio nuts with one tablespoon of olive oil in a food processor. Process until fine crumbs are formed. Transfer to a medium skillet and cook over medium-high heat, stirring and tossing constantly until golden brown. Transfer to a small bowl. Season the nutty bread crumbs to taste with salt and pepper and add the chopped parsley and chives. Toss to combine. Set aside.
Add the squash noodles along with the crab meat to the tomatoes. Stir to completely coat the noodles and crab meat. Cook for three minutes. Serve the noodles immediately, topping with the crunchy herbed bread crumbs.