Seafood Lovers reunite for this Spicy Creamy Crab, Chilli and Cherry Tomato Pasta - a true flavour explosion!!
If you are a South London girl, you are probably quite accustomed to seafood. Okay, okay, I know it's not really by the sea, but trust me, when I say it wasn't uncommon growing up to have seafood booths at the market, or that handy seafood seller who would trawl round the local pubs, usually on Sunday with a trayful of various seafood on offer - from crab to cockles, shrimp, whelks you name it he had it and I loved it all.
Whenever I go anywhere coastal, you can guarantee I will check out the local seafood restaurants to see what they have to offer. I still can taste the amazing New England Lobster, I had at a little restaurant in Portsmouth, Massachusetts, where you had to wear a little bib to prevent any dribbles of melted butter from splattering all over you.
Then there was the crab chowder in a sourdough bread bowl on the Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco (one of my favourite cities).
So moving to Ontario, Canada in the South Western area where we are pretty far from the sea and only surrounded by Great Lakes, you can imagine my disappointment at no longer having fresh seafood on hand. Usually, any kind of seafood I have nowadays is the frozen variety and while it nowhere compares to that fresh seafood of my memories, it does the trick of satisfying my cravings.
Crab is one of my favourite choices, growing up we would purchase it whole from the seafood stall at the market at the weekend and have great delight, fighting over the crab legs, to get all the succulent crab leg meat. Around here it tends to be Snow Crab which is on offer, and those are pretty scary to look at, like some kind of mutant alien type crab with huge legs. But still good crab meat all the same.
In this Creamy Crab, Chilli and Cherry Tomato Pasta, the flavour combination is just delicious - that spicy kick of the red chilli, creamy ness of the cream cheese, sweetness of the tomatoes, flavours of the sea from the crab and of course, that comforting pasta (Spaghetti).
I love seafood pasta of any kind, usually with a creamy sauce. Although typically very high in caloeries too, if ordering from a restaurant. You will be pleased to know that this Creamy Crab, Chilli and Cherry Tomato Pasta however is low in calories, so can be enjoyed without any guilt.
If you love crab, check out some of my other crab recipes:
- Crab Stick Salad (imitation crab, but delicious all the same)
- Crab Stuffed Sweet Potato
- Crab and Quinoa Cakes
- Thai Crab Cakes
- Crab and Chilli Fried Rice
- Crab with Red Pesto Spaghetti
- Crab Cakes
or head on over to my FULL RECIPE INDEX with over 700+ amazing Slimming Eats Recipes.
Recipe Card
Creamy Crab, Chilli and Cherry Tomato Pasta | Slimming Eats
This recipe is Weight Watchers friendly
WW Smart Points - 9
Ingredients
- 160g of spaghetti
- 150g of fresh crab meat (I use a mix of claw and white crab meat) - can use canned, if you prefer
- 1 clove of garlic, crushed
- 2 red chillies, very finely chopped
- approx 20 cherry tomatoes, halved
- 3 tablespoons of low-fat cream cheese
- fresh Italian Parsley to serve
- Cooking Oil Spray
- black pepper
Instructions
- Cook the pasta according to the pack instructions. Drain, set aside, reserving a little of the pasta water.
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Spray a frying pan with some cooking oil spray, add the garlic clove and cook for about 1 minute to release the flavour.
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Add the tomatoes and chilli and cook until softened.
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Stir in the cream cheese and a little of the reserved pasta water, until the cream cheese has melted into a creamy tomato sauce.
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Add in the cooked spaghetti and crab meat and toss until crab is heated through.
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Sprinkle with fresh parsley
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Enjoy!!
Notes
Please see below for full nutritional info and additional details about recipe:
- Calories - scroll down to nutritional info box
- WW Points and other Slimming or Weight Loss programs - due to plans regularly changing and updating, we recommend calculating with the official tools you get as a member to those plans to ensure accuracy of values.
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Nutrition Information
Yield 2 Serving Size 1 servingAmount Per Serving Calories 419Total Fat 2.3gSaturated Fat 0.9gCholesterol 64mgSodium 305mgCarbohydrates 68.4gFiber 4gSugar 8.2gProtein 27g
katie says
Can you use cheese triangles instead? Thanks
Siobhan (Slimming Eats) says
they should work, but will give a slightly different flavour. It is best with cream cheese. 🙂
Lyn says
Cooked this tonight with salmon, absolutely divine
Debbie says
Can you use quark instead of cream cheese ?
Siobhan (Slimming Eats) says
I personally wouldn't use quark in this, it has a tendency to split when heated and doesn't yield the same creamy sauce as it's sour instead of creamy
Liz says
Can you use prawns instead of crab in this?
Siobhan (Slimming Eats) says
yep prawns will work fine is this recipe, enjoy!!
Jodie says
Making this for the second time today! I use 2 tins of crab as can’t get fresh I also use seriously strong spreadable light as it works out as 2 healthy extra A choices instead & it’s amazing! Love slimming eats recipes x
Sandy Southgate says
Fabulous recipe have it once a fortnight with fresh crab love it!sandra south
Linda Reilly says
Lovely meal and so quick, highly recommend. Will make again next week but as suggested will try salmon flakes or prawns.