Delicate crabmeat gives sweetness to a light citrus sauce served on top of pasta. Ingredients 1/4 cup Dry white wine 1/4 cup Tarragon or white-wine vinegar 1/3 cup Shallot finely chopped 1 1/4 sticks Unsalted butter cold, cut into tablespoon pieces (see Notes) 1 pound Jumbo lump crabmeat picked over 3 tablespoons Fresh tarragon chopped 3 tablespoons Fresh chives chopped 1/3 cup Fresh flat-leaf parsley chopped 1 1/2 teaspoons Fresh lemon zest finely grated 3 tablespoons Fresh lemon juice 1/2 teaspoon Salt 1 pound Dried egg fettuccine

Instructions
Boil wine, vinegar, and shallot in a 2 1/2- to 3-quart heavy saucepan over moderate heat until liquid is reduced to about 1 tablespoon, about 3 minutes. Add a few tablespoons butter, whisking constantly. Add remaining butter 1 piece at a time, whisking constantly and adding each new piece before previous one has completely melted, lifting pan from heat occasionally to cool mixture. Reduce heat to low, then add crabmeat and cook, stirring occasionally, until just heated through, about 2 minutes.

Remove pan from heat and stir in herbs, zest, lemon juice, and salt.

Meanwhile, cook pasta in a 6- to 8-quart pot of boiling salted water until al dente. Reserve 3 tablespoons of pasta-cooking water, then drain pasta.

Toss pasta with crab sauce and reserved cooking water in a serving bowl. Season with salt and pepper.

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Yields: 6 Servings
     Gourmet magazine, July 2006, page 90

notes:  I reduced the butter from 10 tablespoons to 6 tablespoons and added 2 tablespoons olive oil. I added 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme and 2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint to the herb mixture. Also, I added 1/2 teaspoon crushed dried red pepper, which gave it a nice kick! I also added freshly grated parmesan cheese (1/4 cup) as a garnish. I highly recommend the large, 1 pound can of fresh crabmeat from Trader Joe's.

Melissa Roberts-Matar

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