Crab, Courgette & Chilli Tagliatelle

Recipe 1 of my new weekly(ish) series, Eat Right on Monday Night.

CALORIES PER SERVING: 453 (SERVES 2 )

When I came up with this dish I just knew it was one of those recipes that would fly, and I was right. Everyone I have shared this with has loved it and it’s become a regular fixture. Even better, it contains 5 different plant foods, and crab*, an excellent source of protein, magnesium and B12. To increase the fibre, you could use wholegrain spaghetti, but taste-wise my absolute fave is the fantastic Giuseppe Cocco tagliatelle.

PREP TIME: 10 mins

COOKING TIME: 10 mins

INGREDIENTS:

(For my subscribers over the pond, if you want to convert measurements to Imperial, here’s a handy tool)

• 150g tagliatelle

• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

• 2 fat cloves of garlic, peeled and finely grated

• 1 large red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped

• 1 large courgette (around 300g), topped, tailed and grated

• 50ml dry white wine

• 100g white crab meat

• Salt

• Black pepper

To finish:

• A generous squeeze of lemon juice

• Flat leaf parsley, chopped

• Parmesan cheese, finely grated

METHOD:

Cook 150g tagliatelle in a large pan of salted water until al dente.

While the pasta is cooking, heat 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil in a large pan on a medium heat, add 2 fat cloves of garlic, peeled and finely grated, 1 large red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped, 1 courgette, topped, tailed and grated, and gently sauté for 5 minutes.

Add 50ml dry white wine and turn up the heat for a minute to burn off the alcohol, before taking the pan off the heat and adding 100g white crab meat (I buy seafood-and-eat-it brand). Mix well.

Drain the pasta and add it to the pan, combine with the crab mixture, season really well with salt and black pepper, then turn the lot out onto a serving dish.

Squeeze over some lemon juice and sprinkle over some chopped flat leaf parsley. Grate over some Parmesan to taste.

*For more nutritional information about one of my favourite seafoods, crab, click here