Crab Marinara

Name: Crab Marinara
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 40 min
Yield: 4
Ingredients: 8 blue crabs, cleaned; 2 (28 oz each) cans of whole plum tomatoes (San Marzano peeled tomatoes are recommended); 1 teaspoon of salt; 1 teaspoon of pepper; 1 tablespoon of red chili flakes (or less if you prefer less spicy); 4 basil leaves; 4 cloves of garlic, smashed; 2 tablespoons of olive oil; 1 lb of cooked spaghetti or linguini

by Maxine

4 servings

40 min

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This Crab Marinara is made with blue crabs, San Marzano peeled tomatoes, red pepper flakes, garlic, basil and served on spaghetti or linguini.

This is a delicious crab sauce on spaghetti that you can make for a nice warm summer day. Your local fish market will clean the crabs for you.

Blend the whole plum tomatoes into a puree with a blender or a food processor. Alternatively, you can squish them with your hands if you like your sauce on the chunkier side.

What you will need

Blue Crabs: The blue crabs must be cleaned.
Garlic: The garlic can be fresh or garlic from a jar.
Tomatoes: I used San Marzano whole peeled tomatoes and pureed them. Alternatively, I like to crush them with my hands and simmer. You can also buy 2 cans of pureed tomatoes as well.
Red pepper flakes: Red pepper flakes make the dish spicy.

How to make Crab Marinara

In a large stockpot or dutch oven on medium heat, add the oil and wait for it to shimmer. Add the garlic for 1 minute, stirring. Pour in the tomato puree, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes and let it simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the basil and the crabs and make sure the crabs are nestled in the sauce. Cover and cook for 2 hours.

When there is 15 minutes remaining on the crab cooking, cook your spaghetti or linguini.

Garnish with more basil.

Other dishes to try

SHRIMP SCAMPI
MUSSELS WITH TOMATO AND WHITE WINE
PULPO A LA GALLEGA

Crab Marinara

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Recipe details

Yield 4 servings
Time spent: Prep time: 10 Minutes Cook time: 30 Minutes Total time: 40 min

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Per serving

% Daily value

Instructions

Blend the whole plum tomatoes into a puree with a blender or a food processor. Alternatively, you can squish them with your hands if you like your sauce on the chunkier side.
In a large stockpot or dutch oven on medium heat, add the oil and wait for it to shimmer. Add the garlic for 1 minute, stirring. Pour in the tomato puree, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes and let it simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the basil and the crabs and make sure the crabs are nestled in the sauce. Cover and cook for 2 hours.
When there is 15 minutes remaining on the crab cooking, cook your spaghetti or linguini.
Garnish with more basil.

Comments

Kathy on Oct 01, 2021

What do you mean by clean the crab?

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- M.driedric on Oct 29, 2021
  
  My uncle use to take the whole crab, take off the top shell and cut it in half with a old large knife. Then he took a hose and sprayed out the unwanted stuff...gills, poop...that is how to clean a crab. Then he put the cleaned crabs into the sauce. He did this outside obviously. I guess you could do this in the kitchen, just not as much fun and messier.
  
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- Julie Sigwart on Oct 28, 2022
  
  Blue crabs have lungs (gills) that need to be removed, plus whether you want to eat the "mustard," i.e., the hepatopancreas digestive part of the crab that looks like yellow-green goo. Since this is where the crab filters toxins, there are concerns about eating the mustard since it can contain these toxins. So you pop the top shell off of the crab, which is easily doable if you put your finger under the "apron" on the underside of the crab and removing it with the top shell. After removing the shell, the lungs are the spongy gill-like things on the top, scrape those off, then wash out the yellow goo you see in the center.
  
  1
DMarie on Oct 28, 2021

This looks heavenly!!! If only blue crab was available more readily everywhere. I miss it, grew up on it back east. Costs an arm and a leg to get the whole crabs to California.

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