When you have leftover crab, you whip up something quick. This creamy crab corn and bacon pasta is delicious and comes together in about a half-hour or less! It’s incredibly delicious and simple, and you’re free to customize it however you’d like. Don’t eat bacon? Leave it out. Don’t eat crab? Leave it out or substitute it for another protein. Honestly, as delicious and luxurious as the crab is in this dish — the real star is the corn. KEEP THE CORN! Those sweet morsels just leave you wanting bite after bite after bite.
Corn pairs well with anything. And if you’ve never had it in pasta before, you’re in for a treat. You can even skip the cream here, and just toss everything with a little wine or stock of your choice, along with plenty of good olive oil or butter. I’m telling you, this can be prepared a bunch of ways. Just don’t skip the corn or the lemon — they are imperative flavors!
Here’s most of what we’re working with
Drizzle a little olive oil into your skillet over medium heat.
Add the bacon and cook it down.
Keep going.
All done. Scoop it out, and pour out all but one tablespoon of the bacon fat. Return the skillet back to the stove.
Cook for about 2 to 3 minutes over medium heat.
Add the dried dill and stir around, cook for another minute or two.
Toss in the fresno chile and cook until softened, about a minute or two.
Add the crab and stir around. The juices from the crab meat will help loosen up any stuck on bits.
Pour in the seafood stock (or chicken stock) and scrape any goodness from the bottom. Let the stock reduce for about 2 minutes.
Now pour in the heavy cream.
Add the par-cooked pasta.
Stir it all around.
Let the pasta finish cooking in the sauce. Season well!
This should take about 4 to 5 minutes to finish cooking the pasta and the starches will help thicken the sauce. You want this creamy but slightly loose because cheese will be added later to thicken it even more.
When the pasta is fully cooked through and it’s tasting bomb, turn off the heat. Squeeze in the lemon juice. Add the zest, basil, and parsley. Season again if needed.
Fold in the cheese, using half a cup at a time until you’ve reached the desired consistency. Remember, this will continue to thicken as it stands.
I forgot to take a picture, but fold in the bacon! Serve it up.
You’re going to love eating this crab corn and bacon pasta, mainly due to the sweet corn. It’s such a treat every single time you bit into it. You can use any type of pasta you want for this dish, any combination of herbs. It’s really a canvas for you to get creative and use things in your fridge that might be on the verge of dying.
My advice to you is to ALWAYS squeeze your own lemon juice. There’s nothing like fresh lemon! And the lemon is a must here. It really brings out all the flavors in a wonderful way.
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Creamy Crab Corn and Bacon Pasta
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 4 to 6 servings servings
Description
A quick and delicious dinner is on the way! Featuring tender crab, sweet corn, and salty bacon. Fully customizable and on your table in less than a half-hour.
Ingredients
- 8 ounces thin spaghetti (half a box)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 5 slices thick cut bacon, cut into strips/lardons
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 8 ounces fresh corn, from about 2 ears
- 1 fresno chili, thinly sliced or minced
- 5 cloves garlic, thinly sliced or minced
- 1/2 teaspoon dried dill
- 8 ounces lump crab meat, picked over for shells
- 1/2 cup seafood stock or chicken stock
- 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
- 1/2 teaspoon granulated onion
- 1/2 teaspoon granulated garlic
- Zest of a lemon
- 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice (squeeze the juice yourself!)
- 2 tablespoons fresh basil, finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon flat leaf Italian parsley, finely chopped
- 1 cup finely shredded pecorino, loosely packed
- Flaky kosher salt and black pepper, to taste
Instructions
You will be cooking the pasta WHILE you cook the bacon, so have both stations ready to go!
- Bring a pot of water to a vigorous boil. When it begins to boil, season with salt (don’t make it excruciatingly salty in case you have to add some of it to your pasta later). Add the pasta, gently coaxing it to submerge and stirring to prevent sticking. Cook the pasta for about 5 to 6 minutes — the pasta should be boiling at the same time you cook the bacon.
- At the same time, drizzle about a tablespoon of olive oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium heat. Add the chopped bacon and cook until crisp, about 5 to 8 minutes.
- Drain the pasta, reserving about a cup of pasta water. Run cold water over the pasta to stop the cooking, allow it to drain, and set it to the side. You’ll add the pasta to the sauce later.
- When the bacon is done, scoop all of it out onto a paper towel to drain. Pour off all but one tablespoon of bacon fat out of the skillet. Return to the heat. Add the butter, corn, garlic, and season with salt and pepper. Stir it around to coat each kernel well with fat and cook for about 2 to 3 minutes.
- Add the dried dill and cook for an additional 2 minutes. It’s totally fine if the corn starts to develop some color, but if it’s getting too dark too fast, turn the heat down.
- Add the fresno chili pepper and cook for about a minute until it’s softened slightly.
- Stir in the crab meat and scrape up any bits from the bottom. Cook for about a minute or two.
- Pour in the seafood stock, and continue to scrape any bits from the bottom of the pan. Allow the stock to reduce for about 2 minutes.
- Pour in the heavy cream, then the par-cooked pasta. Allow the pasta to finish simmering in the cream base for about 5 minutes over medium heat. The sauce will thicken as it cooks, mainly from the starch of the pasta.
- Season the entire mixture with granulated onion, granulated garlic, black pepper, and salt to taste. When you’re happy with the flavor and the pasta is perfectly cooked, turn off the heat.
- Squeeze in the juice of a whole lemon, along with the zest. Toss in the parsley and basil. Stir everything together until combined, and give it another taste to ensure it’s perfect to your liking. It should still be creamy but on the thinner side of creamy. If it’s gloopy, add a little of the reserved pasta water to thin it out — because you’re going to add the cheese and that will thicken it up as well.
- Add the cheese (start with half and add more as you need to) and crispy bacon, and gently toss everything to distribute the cheese evenly. It should be perfectly creamy — not too thin, but not at all gloopy and sticky. If you need to thin it out, use some of the reserved pasta water. Cream sauces thicken as they sit, so go ahead and serve it up immediately and enjoy.
- Prep Time: 10
- Cook Time: 20
- Category: Pasta
Keywords: crab corn and bacon pasta, pasta with corn, corn crab and bacon, pasta
This is a really great recipe. I followed it to the letter except I substituted tarragon for dill (just can’t like it) and Fresno chilies aren’t available in my area so chili flakes. This is definitely a keeper!
★★★★★
This came out so great! I decided to make this last night for guests I had over for dinner. The pasta soaked up all the cream and I forgot about the pasta water I had put aside. I wish it were creamier but also didn’t mind that it wasn’t. I plan on making this again next week with a few tweaks. I used colossal crab meat and I don’t think i’ll ever go back to lump for a dish such as this. Thanks for another fire recipe!
★★★★★
Excellent, excellent recipe. The way the herbs played alongside the crab, and how the bacon elevated it all at the end. I made it the way you did but plan to try it keto in the future!
★★★★★
This would be great and keto friendly with the healthy noodles from costco. Can’t wait to try it! Thanks Resha!
YUM! I wish we could add pictures here. My IG is private, but chef, I have been making your recipes all quarantine! This one was great! I used Konjac noodles to keep it keto/lc and less cream (a little under 1 cup but started with 3/4) and a tiny bit of xantham to get it to thicken since there was not pasta starch. The flavors are amazing! I was able to make this between meetings and YUM! Can’t wait to have the leftovers later and to make this again and again.
★★★★★