This crab mac ‘n’ cheese gets it right with the delicate balance between crab, pasta and cheese. I’d say this is a luxurious adult version of the plain mac n cheese that’s pleasing to all ages and eaters of all preferences. The crab mac ‘n’ cheese is rich, but less than you’d expect since the sauce is lightened with a lot of crab meat. Undoubtedly, seafood lovers will find it delightful and an exciting way to include crab meat in the dish. I had my doubts for using luxurious crab meat in such a conventional old-fashion manner — fearing that it would be wasted.
This is Nigella Lawson’s recipe in Cook Eat Repeat. Consider the ingredient list. Besides the crab meat, there is nutmeg, smoked paprika, aleppo pepper, tomato purée, Worcestershire sauce, gruyere, and Parmesan in the cheese sauce. The combination is just sumptuous, like a cross between a mac ’n’ cheese and a bisque. And without the heat-scorched finish. The end result is akin to a velvety delicacy. If that’s not enough, Nigella adds this comment as a side-note:
It would be remiss of me not to let you know that if you bump up the milk in the sauce recipe to 300ml / 1¼ cups, it makes for sensational seafood nachos: warm tortilla chips in the oven, then pour the sauce over them, and top with sliced red chillies and chopped chives or whatever you please.
Any reservations about this recipe dissipate when I can’t stop eating the velvety crab mac ‘n’ cheese. It dawns on me that richness sees no limit, especially when you’re hungry and not on a diet. Once in a while, we need an indulgent celebratory dish that goes over the top. This is a real treat!
Crab Mac 'N' Cheese
Ingredients
- 15g or 1½ x 15ml tablespoons plain flour
- ¼ teaspoon ground mace (I use nutmeg)
- ¼ teaspoon smoked sweet paprika
- ⅛ teaspoon Aleppo pepper or hot smoked paprika, plus more to sprinkle at the end
- 250 millilitres full fat milk
- 1 x 15ml tablespoon tomato puree
- 30g or 2 x 15ml tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 fat clove of garlic, grated
- ½ teaspoon worcestershire sauce
- 100 grams gruyere cheese, grated
- 15g or 2 x 15ml tablespoons freshly grated parmesan, grated
- 200 grams conchiglie rigate pasta
- 100 grams mixed white and brown crab meat (50/50)
Instructions
PREPARE THE SPICE MIX AND THE TOMATOEY MILK : Mix the flour with the spices in a small cup. Set aside. Pour the milk into a measuring cup and stir in the tomato purée.
COOK THE TOMATOEY MILK: Find a smallish heavy-based saucepan; I use one of 18cm / 7 inches diameter. Over low heat, melt the butter, add the garlic and stir it around in the pan quickly. Turn the heat up to medium and add the flour and spices. Whisk over the heat until it all coheres into an orange, fragrant, loose paste; this will take no longer than a minute. It soon looks like tangerine-tinted foaming honeycomb. Take off the heat and very gradually whisk in the tomatoey milk, until it’s completely smooth. Use a spatula to scrape down any sauce that’s stuck to the sides of the pan.
THICKEN THE CHEESE SAUCE: Put the pan back on the heat, turn up to medium and cook, stirring, until it has thickened and lost any taste of flouriness, 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in the Worcestershire sauce. Take the pan off the heat and stir in the grated gruyere and parmesan cheeses. It’ll look rather fabulously like Velveeta now. Put a lid on the saucepan, off the heat.
COOK THE PASTA: Put a pan of water on to boil for the pasta. Add salt to the boiling water in the pasta pan, then add the pasta and cook according to the packet instructions, though start checking it a couple of minutes earlier.
ADD THE CRABMEAT: When the pasta is just about al dente, add the crabmeat to the smoky cheese sauce. When the pasta shells are ready, use a spider to lift them into the sauce or drain them, reserving some pasta-cooking liquid first, and drop the shells in. Stir over lowish heat until the crabmeat is hot. If you want to make the sauce with more fluid, add as much pasta-cooking water as you need. Taste to see if you might need to add salt. Divide between two small shallow bowls and sprinkle with Aleppo pepper or hot smoked paprika.
Notes
https://www.nigella.com/recipes/crab-mac-n-cheese
3 Comments
ibbeachnana
August 28, 2021 at 8:14 amThanks for posting this…I have about 1/2 pound picked crab meat to use…perfect solution.
Crab Mac ‘N’ Cheese | Nigella — Ever Open Sauce | My Meals are on Wheels
August 28, 2021 at 12:22 pm[…] Crab Mac ‘N’ Cheese | Nigella — Ever Open Sauce […]
Kim Tracy
August 29, 2021 at 1:12 pmIf you’re in the mood to indulge then this is the way to do it! This takes macaroni and cheese to a whole new level. I can imagine how it tastes right now. So luxurious!