Squid Ink Chitarra with Sea Urchin, Dungeness Crab, and Jalapeño
Matt makes a point to return to Italy every year for inspiration. On a recent trip, he happily returned with the idea for this sea urchin pasta dish, the only cold pasta we serve. I love sea urchins, or ricci. They are a delicacy of many seaside regions in Italy, such as Puglia and Sicily, but many aficionados say that the best sea urchins come from the waters off Southern California. Cooked lump crab meat is readily available at seafood stores and in the seafood sections of high-end grocery stores.
Recipe information
Yield
serves 4
Ingredients
Preparation
Step 1
Combine the pine nuts, jalapeño peppers, onion, and olive oil in the bowl of a food processor or the jar of a blender and purée to form a paste. Scrape the paste into a bowl.
Step 2
Fill a large saucepan or pasta pot with 6 quarts of water, add 6 tablespoons salt, and bring it to a boil over high heat. If you are not using a pasta pot, place a colander in the sink or have a pair of tongs handy to lift the pasta out of the water. Fill a medium bowl with ice water.
Step 3
Reserve 4 of the best-looking sea urchin tongues for garnish and put the remaining 12 tongues, the crab meat, and 1/4 cup of the jalapeño pesto in separate piles in a medium bowl, discarding the remaining pesto or reserving it for another use. Drizzle the pesto with 1/2 cup of the finishing-quality olive oil and set aside at room temperature while you cook the pasta.
Step 4
Remove the chitarra from the refrigerator or freezer and drop it into the boiling water. Stir to prevent the strands from sticking together, partially cover the pot so the water returns to a boil quickly and continues boiling, and cook the pasta until it’s al dente, about 2 minutes. Lift the pasta out of the water or drain it and plunge it in the ice water, leaving it there for 5 or 10 seconds to stop it from cooking. Use tongs to lift the pasta out of the ice water, and transfer it to the bowl with the sea urchin and crab meat. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold the pasta to coat it with the sauce. Drizzle the lemon juice and sprinkle the sea salt over the pasta and gently fold the pasta to distribute the seasonings evenly.
Step 5
Use tongs to lift the chitarra out of the bowl and onto the center of each of four plates, dividing the pasta evenly, and twirling it as it falls onto the plate to form a tight mound. Spoon the sea urchin and crab meat remaining in the bowl over the pasta. Place one of the reserved sea urchin tongues on top of each serving of pasta, drizzle 1/2 teaspoon of finishing-quality olive oil over and around each plate, top with a pinch of sea salt, and serve.
suggested wine pairing
Step 6
Vermentino dei Colli di Luni (Liguria)
