Holy Crab!

I realized it's been awhile since I've showcased one of Ryan's masterpieces (even though I eat them all the time). This dish was inspired by one of our favorite indulgences, crab legs. Caught fresh from the Costco Seafood Road Show, two or three legs usually satisfies our appetite for a taste of luxury. This time, those legs had a fancier fate than simply being dipped in butter. They put on a tuxedo and hopped into pasta baked with four cheeses.

That's right...Holy crab! Crab Mac & Cheese, ya'll! Let me just tell you, it was out of this world.

The recipe was a hybrid of Ina Garten's & Emeril Lagasse's. After removing all of the crabmeat and boiling the pasta, Ryan made a homemade four-cheese sauce: Gruyere, Pecorino Romano, Fontina, Parrano. Sauteed onions and garlic, pancetta, and chives made the sauce ooze with flavor. The nutty, sharp, creamy, salty cheese sauce surrounded bits of crab, chives, and cavatappi pasta (which is my absolute favorite pasta shape, by the way).

Tossed together, scooped into a glass baking dish, and topped with tomatoes and buttered bread crumbs...

...this was the end result. I can't tell you how hard it was to wait for the 10 minute "cool time". So after 9 minutes, I dished up a hearty portion (I already knew it was going to be good), and drizzled it with teensy bit of White Truffle Oil (one of our William's-Sonoma gift card splurges).

Ho-LY CRAB! Luscious, perfectly rich, make-your-mouth-sing delicious.

Happy Searching,