Spaghetti and Crabs is a classic Italian-American recipe, especially known in the Philadelphia/New Jersey/New York areas. Made and enjoyed mostly in the summer months with local blue crabs slowly simmered in tomato sauce, there’s also a huge contingency that enjoys this dish on Christmas Eve, as part of the Feast of the Seven Fishes tradition. Whenever it’s made and eaten, I can say in all seriousness, there is nothing out there like the flavor of this crab gravy!
PREPARATION TIME:
PREP TIME 20 minutes
COOK TIME 2 hours 15 minutes
TOTAL TIME 2 hours 35 minutes
INGREDIENTS
- 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 cup yellow onion, finely chopped
- 6 Tbsp garlic, finely chopped
- 2 ounces anchovies + their oil
- 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
- 2 large handfuls basil, whole or hand-torn, divided
- 4 (28 ounce) cans high-quality whole peeled tomatoes, crushed by hand
- 1 cup water
- 1 tsp salt + more for pasta water
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- about 15 raw whole blue crabs, top shell, lungs & other nasty bits removed, fully cleaned, halved (ask your fishmonger to do this) – as many as can fit in your pot (about 15)
- 1 pound spaghetti or other long pasta (See NOTE.)
INSTRUCTIONS
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See NOTE below about the yield of the sauce. This recipes makes about 1 gallon of crab gravy. Reduce the portions as desired, but you will be very happy that you have leftovers in the freezer. Trust me!
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Make the crab gravy: In a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan or Dutch oven, heat the olive oil, onions, garlic, anchovies and crushed red pepper together over medium-low heat and cook until the onions and garlic are soft and starting to brown. At this point, the anchovies will have fully dissolved into the oil.
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Add half the basil and sauté for about two minutes, to release its flavor, while stirring.
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Add the tomatoes, water, salt and black pepper and bring mixture to a light boil, then immediately reduce the heat to a low simmer and submerge all of the crabs in the tomatoes.
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Partially cover the pot and simmer for about 2½ hours, stirring regularly. Remove the crabs from the sauce at this point and hold them warm, covered, in a 200°F oven, while preparing the pasta. (See NOTE below about the amount of sauce that this recipe yields). Taste and adjust seasoning of the sauce, if necessary, and fold in the remaining basil.
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Heat a large pot of water to boiling to cook the pasta. In the meantime, place about three cups or so of the crab gravy in a large skillet over low heat.
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Cook pasta in a large pot of salted boiling water until two minutes less than al dente. At this point, transfer the pasta and about ½ cup pasta water to the skillet with the sauce. Finish cooking the pasta in the delicious sauce so that it will soak up all of those delicious flavors! Add more pasta water and sauce as desired or needed.
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Transfer the pasta to a serving bowl and enjoy! Serve the crabs on the side or after enjoying the pasta. Buon Appetito!
NOTES
- The sauce recipe yields roughly 1 gallon, which is clearly meant for a large crowd or for several meals. (One gallon crab gravy is enough for about 4 to 5 pounds of pasta.) But, this sauce freezes beautifully! I suggest portioning any leftovers in two cup increments and freezing them in an airtight freezer bag or container for up to three months.
- Any long pasta is great in this dish. The traditional shape is spaghetti, but linguine, bucatini, spaghettone and spaghetti alla chitarra are all work beautifully.
