Crab, mint & lemon spelt pasta

The spelt pasta in this dish really gives a lovely nutty flavour and combines beautifully with the crab, mint and the lemon pangrattato. Such a light, simple pasta but it ticks all the boxes for flavour, colour and of course, a Mediterranean theme. You can add a little cumbled feta too if you like or if you can’t getor don’t like crab, then the feta addition will make this alternative pasta dish. If you can’t get spelt pasta you can substitute any long pasta. This recipe will serve 4.

Crab, mint lemon spelt pasta

400g long spelt pasta such as casareccia or tagliatelle

600g cooked crab meat

1/4 cup (loosely packed) finely chopped mint

1 long red chilli (or to taste), finely chopped

Finely grated rind and juice of 2 lemons

60ml extra-virgin olive oil

Lemon pangrattato

60ml olive oil

100g coarse fresh sourdough breadcumbs

Finely grated rind of 1 lemon

1 garlic clove, finely chopped

For lemon pangrattato, heat oil in a frying pan over medium heat, add breadcrumbs and stir occasionally until golden (3-4 minutes). Stir in lemon rind and garlic, season to taste and set aside.

Cook pasta in a saucepan of boiling salted water until al dente (6-8 minutes). Drain, reserving 30ml of the pasta water. Return to pan with the pasta water, stir in remaining ingredients, season to taste and serve hot topped with lemon pangrattato.

I like to serve a Chardonnay with this dish as it really works well with the crab.