One man’s meat. It looks like I have completely forgotten what I am supposed to be at here. Meat should be beef, lamb, pork, venison, buffalo and various parts of big things that run around on four legs. They usually frighten us two-legged ones when we see them in the wild. Right? Well, yes and no. Yes, that might be one’s interpretation. It might have even been my interpretation at one stage. But now, I have broadened the brief and I am officially including anything that once lived. This is because I have been preparing and cooking poultry, fish and an occasional (very occasional) salad as well as the more robust horned ones that tend to chase us around the place when we visit the countryside.
For this post, I am going to the sea once again and flagrantly promoting the wonderful Irish crab available in abundance off our shores. The crab is caught and cooked fresh (a bit too fresh for the crab’s liking) in salted water. The experts remove every delicious morsel of meat from inside the hard-shelled creatures. I have given this a go myself with only minimal personal injury and plenty of meaty success. This time, I am deferring to the experts at Quinlan’s Fish and using their prepared fresh crab meat to cook a delicious Crab Carbonara.
The ingredients list is shorter than a sunny weekend and just as nice.
- 4 large free range eggs
- 150 grammes of 00 flour
- 150 grammes of fresh crabmeat
- A handful of garden fresh parsley
- 1 red chili
First thing to do is to make the pasta. To do this you will need a pasta machine. If you don’t have one, reduce the ingredients list above by 2 eggs and the flour. Replace it with some tagliatelle. Be warned, it will not be nearly as nice as the fresh pasta.
Add the flour, an egg and a yoke to a stand mixer.
Beat this as shown below until the flour has absorbed all the egg.
Add some egg white and mix. Continue until you have a nice pasta looking lump of dough in the bowl. Then change the hook to a dough hook and beat it on slow speed for ten minutes. At the end, you will have a nice lump of dough that looks something like this photo.
Place the dough in cling film and leave in the refrigerator for an hour. Use some of this hour to beat the remaining egg and a half. Bring a big pot of water to the boil.
Make the pasta, rolling it as thin as you dare.
Add the slicing attachment and cut into nice strips as shown in the photo.
Add the pasta to the water and boil it for a couple of minutes until almost cooked through. Strain the pasta. Add a splash of olive oil to prevent sticking and return it to the pot. Add the egg.
Add the parsley chilli and crab meat and stir well. The egg will cook in the warm pasta. The crab meat will cling to the pasta using the egg as a kind of glue.
Serve with a nice glass of Italian (it would have to be Italian) white wine.
Serve it in warm bowls. Anybody who ate it agreed that my widening of the ‘One Man’s Meat’ brief was wholly justified. I hope you agree.
cookinginsens | 8th July 2014
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Very pretty Conor and I know delicious!
Conor Bofin | 8th July 2014
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Thanks Rosemary. Replying from Libourne, just outside BDX. I’m not staying on here for long. Too much wine to try and duck to eat.
katechiconi | 8th July 2014
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I think you are totally justified in branching out. Meat is, after all, an archaic term for any kind of food, and you could therefore argue that almost anything you put in your mouth is grist to the Bofin mill…
Conor Bofin | 9th July 2014
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Thanks Kate, that is certainly grist to this mill.
Linda Duffin | 8th July 2014
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Delicious. Laughed at your advice re lack of a pasta machine – having tried it the other way I can say, hand on heart, you’re absolutely right.
Conor Bofin | 9th July 2014
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Thanks Linda, your kind comment earned you an edit.
Best,
C
Linda Duffin | 9th July 2014
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Typo? Or just me being thick?
Conor Bofin | 9th July 2014
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Let’s settle on thicko then! On second thoughts, let’s not. I have a from of arthritis in my right hand that is slowly, ever so slowly, tying up my joints. My handwriting (I’m a leftie, thanks be to goodness) has always been like a doctor’s. Now my typing, once pretty good, now needs to be re-read before anything is posted or sent. Such is life.
Linda Duffin | 10th July 2014
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Sorry to hear that. I type two-fingered but fast and don’t always read through what I’ve written properly before hitting the send button. Apologies for any inadvertent obscenities.
Conor Bofin | 11th July 2014
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Keep ’em coming. It makes language more colourful.
ksbeth | 8th July 2014
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this looks amazing.
Conor Bofin | 9th July 2014
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Thanks. I was happy with the pictures, for once!
Mad Dog | 8th July 2014
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Fantastic, I could eat that for lunch 🙂
Conor Bofin | 9th July 2014
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Thanks MD. We had it for evening meal and then Wife scoffed the balance, cold for lunch. She reports that it was delicious.
Juan Manteca | 8th July 2014
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it looks really good! Pasta with one or two ingredients is the way I like!
Conor Bofin | 9th July 2014
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Thanks Juan, Best to keep it simple with good ingredients. That’s what works for me, most of the time.
babso2you | 8th July 2014
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I agree and this looks great Conor! May you and yours be well! ^..^
Conor Bofin | 9th July 2014
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Thanks Barb. We are currently in France, near Bordeaux, having difficulty seeing the computer screen because of the bright sunshine. Happy Days!
babso2you | 9th July 2014
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Enjoy your trip Conor! Happy days to you too!
Debbie Spivey | 8th July 2014
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Nothing like fresh pasta! I love making it. This looks wonderful!!
Conor Bofin | 9th July 2014
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Thanks Debbie for the kind comments. I have had various experiences with the pasta making. This time it worked well and I learned a bit about method. Onwards and upwards!
tinywhitecottage | 8th July 2014
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Never occurred to me to use crab in pasta carbonara. What a great idea! Looks fantastic Conor.
Conor Bofin | 9th July 2014
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Thanks. If the crab is good, the carbonara will be wonderful. This crab was excellent.
The Quincho Project | 8th July 2014
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Interesting use of a seasonal local ingredient. Bravo. Will have to give it a go on this side of the pond with our local dungeness. We don’t get those until late winter/early spring. I’ll keep it on the back burner until then!
Conor Bofin | 9th July 2014
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I look forward to seeing it produced. Thanks for the kind words.
Our Growing Paynes | 8th July 2014
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A fabulous twist! And fresh pasta is hard to beat.
Conor Bofin | 9th July 2014
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Impossible to beat!
Thank you,
Conor
egg me on | 8th July 2014
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Meat schmeat. You are free to make whatever you like, Conor. Especially homemade pasta and this seafood-y twist on carbonara. Although, I think I could devour a plate of your fresh pasta with nothing but the egg, so there’s that. Great stuff!
Conor Bofin | 9th July 2014
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Thanks Tommy. Always great to see your comments coming up here. I hope all is good in Texas.
Shanna Koenigsdorf Ward | 8th July 2014
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Really a gorgeous dish, and the last shot is a show-stopper! Gratuitous. 🙂 One Man’s Fish….
Conor Bofin | 9th July 2014
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Thanks Shanna, I really could not avoid using it. This stuff makes itself easy to shoot.
trixfred30 | 8th July 2014
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Envy – the ability to whip out the pasta machine on demand and then be able to put it away and remember where you put it. I’ve got one but have no idea where the thing is!
Conor Bofin | 9th July 2014
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That’s because you did what most people do. You bought it in a fit of zeal and self delusion. Buy some pasta flour and get the thing out again. You won’t regret it.
Best,
C
trixfred30 | 10th July 2014
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One day…one day. If England win the World Cup.
Conor Bofin | 11th July 2014
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Hmmm. There’s always ebay if you want to get rid of it that badly.
Eha | 9th July 2014
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Delightful and so simple if you have that fresh and unctuous Irish crab . . . . actually I have always thought of ‘One Man’s Meat’ as ‘One Man’s Meal’ anyways – never thought of it as meat exclusive 🙂 !!
Conor Bofin | 9th July 2014
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Thanks Eha, I think I will stick with the more liberal interpretation from here on out. It’s more fun for me, for sure.
Michelle | 9th July 2014
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One Man’s Crab and Pasta? Somehow, I don’t think E.B. White would complain about that. Looks absolutely delicious!
Conor Bofin | 9th July 2014
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One quote from the great man; “A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts.”
I should pay more attention to him.
Best,
C
anotherfoodieblogger | 9th July 2014
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Anything with real crab meat is a good thing. See? Crab “meat.” So you are totally justified.
Conor Bofin | 9th July 2014
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Shhhhhhh. If the others read that, they will see that there was no reason to write this post…
frugalfeeding | 9th July 2014
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I agree, for sure. It’s more meat than perhaps a carrot, or even a potato is…
Conor Bofin | 9th July 2014
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I may have to prepare a carrot and potato soup in an effort to confound you Nick. I am in France on the hols. I brought the bike. I have been out cycling between the vines. Heaven on earth.
Best,
C
Phil @foodfrankly | 9th July 2014
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Superb dish Conor and made all the better by making your own pasta (I get a deep sigh from my wife when she sees the pasta machine coming out – chaos normally ensures…). A glass of that white would go down quite nicely at the moment too.
Conor Bofin | 9th July 2014
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The pasta making gets easier with practise. I know because I have made a mess of it so often. I also ‘involve’ the wife (as you can see) in the process. That helps on the domestic harmony front. (I hope she dose not see this comment!)
chef mimi | 10th July 2014
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Beautiful and perfectly simple dish! Say hello to Stephane!!!
Conor Bofin | 11th July 2014
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Thanks Mimi. I will. We are meeting tomorrow and heading to a market (where else).
Amanda | 10th July 2014
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I must be on the wrong page..where is the meat? What a stunning pasta. I’m so impressed. Crab is so delicious. You really are so talented, Conor.
Conor Bofin | 11th July 2014
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Too kind Amanda. Too kind by half. Though, I am having fun doing it.
oiyoufood | 12th July 2014
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You are too good!
Tonette Joyce | 12th July 2014
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Very nice, Conor! I have been away from all the blogs but came back for this! I really want some crab right now!
Hope all is well.
Conor Bofin | 14th July 2014
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Thanks Tonette,
I really enjoyed putting this one together. As somebody in the A Team once said “I love it when a plan comes together”.
Best,
C
The High Heel Gourmet | 14th July 2014
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Look delicious!
No cheese?
Conor Bofin | 14th July 2014
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No need with the crab. Delicious as it is.
Jody and Ken | 15th July 2014
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Crabmeat AND Falanghina–great combo. I’m sure the charcoal makers of Emilia Romagna would love a seafood alternative once in awhile. Ken
Conor Bofin | 15th July 2014
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And I would be happy to be there cooking it for them. We are holidaying just outside Bordeaux at present. The WiFi is not strong enough to let me. See your French pics. A treat in store…
Jody and Ken | 15th July 2014
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Enjoy. Bon appetit!
Conor Bofin | 15th July 2014
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Merci.
StefanGourmet | 20th July 2014
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Great minimalist recipe, Conor. I bet it tasted very elegant. I also bet the Falanghina was excellent with it.
Conor Bofin | 21st July 2014
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Yes Stefan, the paring worked very well. Not an expensive bottle but just right for this.
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