This amazing Creamy Avocado Pesto Pasta with King Crab (or Shrimp) is a luxurious, creamy pasta dish fit for royalty but is also pretty perfect for a fast meal because it involves minimal cooking and is ready in less than 30 minutes. There is a reason why king crab meat is so beloved by seafood lovers all over the world. Nothing compares to their succulence and sweetness. If you haven’t yet tried, you should find a good excuse to splurge on it to taste for yourself. But for an everyday meal, the much less bougie yet still delicious shrimp is the way to go in this pasta. The recipe for either option is 95% the same.

If you are indeed feeling fancy pants, you can purchase king crab meat conveniently cooked, shelled and vacuum packed for dead easy preparation. But as you can imagine, pan-fried shrimp is amazing here as well. My recipe below will give you both options so you can choose your own adventure.

The method for making this recipe for either king crab or shrimp is almost exactly the same, so feel free to use either depending how rich you’re feeling :)

The creamy pesto sauce is made with avocado flesh, fresh basil, garlic, lemon juice, pine nuts and some extra virgin olive oil. Talk about yum factor. The creaminess comes from the avocado so it is completely dairy-free. And because there is lemon juice blended right in the sauce, the avocado doesn’t brown the sauce and I have no issues making it in advance, such as the morning of or even the day before. The sauce will be thicker intentionally at first and then thinned out to desired consistency by adding splashes of hot pasta cooking water as you toss the freshly-cooked pasta with the sauce just before serving. Toss some toasted pine nuts, fresh torn basil leaves and red pepper flakes and oh-me-oh-my...

Creamy Avocado Pesto Pasta with King Crab (or Shrimp) + Pine Nuts

{ gluten-free, dairy-free }

Recipe serves 4.

INGREDIENTS:

For the Creamy Avocado Pesto sauce (makes about 1 ¾ - 2 cup of sauce):

2 large ripe avocados

½ C fresh basil leaves

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 tbsp pine nuts

2 tbsp fresh lemon juice (zest the lemon first and hang onto the zest for serving, if you like)

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

2 tbsp water

½ tsp fine sea salt, more or less to taste

For the dish:

400g spaghetti, gluten-free or regular

340g (12oz) of frozen cooked King crabmeat, thawed OR 340g of frozen uncooked shrimp, thawed and peeled/deveined

Pasta water to thin to desired consistency

For serving:

3 tbsp toasted pine nuts

Zest from lemon, above

Dried pepper flakes

Fresh black pepper and additional salt to taste

Fresh basil leaves to garnish

METHOD:

1. Bring a large pot of pasta water to boil. If making shrimp version, heat a pan over medium heat (not required if making King crab version).

2. Meanwhile, place all ingredients for the creamy avocado pesto sauce into a blender. Blend until smooth. Pour into a vessel large enough for tossing with the pasta when it is ready.

3. [STEP FOR SHRIMP VERSION]: Pan fry the shrimp until just cooked through and no longer opaque, about 1-2 minutes per side should do it. Season with a bit of salt and set aside.

4. Cook pasta according to package directions for al dente. Without pouring away the pasta water (keep it on simmer), use tongs to bring the hot pasta into the vessel holding the creamy avocado pesto sauce. Toss around until the pasta is well coated with the sauce. Add splashes of hot pasta water as needed to thin out to your desired consistency.

5. [STEP FOR CRABMEAT VERSION]: quick-blanch the king crabmeat chunks in the simmering pasta water until heated through, about a minute not long since it is already cooked.

6. Add the crab OR shrimp to the pasta now and give everything a gentle, final toss. Divide among plates and serve with sprinkles of toasted pine nuts, lemon zest, dried red pepper flakes for some heat and definitely loads of fresh cracked black pepper.

Enjoy! xx

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