Ready for a delicious pasta meal with a new-age twist? Then you've come to the right place! This meal calls for savory mushrooms paired with rich crab stuffed into shells with a light Alfredo sauce over top. That's right - I used light and Alfredo in the same sentence. But it really is just that! None of that heavy cream or caloric-rich sauce you are imagining. This one is light and delicate and hits the spot without adding to your waist. I paired the meal with fresh garlic bread as well as garlic-pesto bread that hit the spot as snow fell outside. (Yes, we actually did get snow in DC. Really!)However, in addition to the recipe below I'd like to discuss this blog as a whole. How can it better serve you? What do you like? Dislike? Sadly, every day I feel a burst of loneliness that there are no comments. Is anyone reading this? My stat tracker seems to think so, but perhaps it is picking up quick hits when you aren't actually taking the time to read. So are you? And if so, why? What is it that draws you in? And if not, why not? What can I do to get you to read my blog and come back again as a repeat customer?
Did I mention my name is Julia? That's right. And I have a good friend with the last name Child. Does that make it any more enticing? :) I finally watched Julie and Julia for the first time a couple weeks ago and it has given me an intense, renewed interest in furthering my own blog. So please give me your input! Today I will be debuting two new features: for each post I will grade the difficulty of the recipe on a easy/medium/hard scale and also give an approximate time it takes to prepare from putting on your apron to sitting down. This includes all baking and cooking times so you might not be active during the entire process but you'll know when to start to finish on time! And, last but not least, a wine or drink suggestion for every meal.
So...
Difficulty: Easy/Medium (I couldn't decide)
Time: 45 minutes
Drink: Sauvignon Blanc
Mushroom and Crab Shells with Basil Alfredo Sauce
Although I am not normally a big fan of white sauce I felt that the Alfredo taste would pair better here than a heavy red sauce. Crab has a rather delicate taste that is brought out by the white. But, are you a vegetarian? Or just in the mood for vegetarian food? Well skip the crab! This will be a complete meal without it. Mushrooms are a flavorful, delicious food that can certainly stand-alone. I'd still recommend going with the white sauce but make sure you increase the amount of mushrooms called for below so that you can properly stuff your shells.
Ingredients:
jumbo shells
olive oil
shallots
garlic
mushrooms
green onions
roasted red bell pepper
crab meat
diced tomato
balsamic vinegar
oregano
thyme
shredded mozzarella (low-fat or fat-free)
parmesan
butter
half-and-half (fat-free)
whipping cream
black pepper
Whew, that is quite the ingredient list. But it all comes together so well! Get some water boiling and prepare your shells. I purchased the jumbo version so you have plenty of space to stuff but you can buy whichever ones you prefer. A good trick to keep them from sticking: after boiling rinse them with cold water when they're in a colander before setting aside.
Heat a small amount of olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Add 2 tbsp diced shallots and 3 cloves of minced garlic. Stir frequently to keep from burning and saute for about 3 minutes or until garlic just lightly starts to brown, but make sure not to burn it. Add your mushrooms. I used a mix of portobello, shiitake, cremini, and oyster. You can choose to add in as many or as few varieties as you want. You'll probably want to use about 16 oz (1 lb in all.) Basic mushrooms usually come in 8 oz packages but fancier ones are often in 3 or 4 oz ones or else just loose for you to select your own. Stir the mushrooms somewhat often to keep them from burning and saute the mixture for 5-7 minutes or until liquid is evaporating and mushrooms have browned and wilted. At this point you'll probably want to preheat your oven to 325 degrees.
After the mushrooms have started to wilt add in 3/4 or 1 cup of diced green onions, 1 can of chopped roasted red peppers, 1 lb of crab meat, 2 cups diced plum tomatoes, and 3 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar. Make sure to sift through the crab meat with your fingers before adding it to pick out any shell you can find. You might still end up missing a few pieces but the more you can take out now, the better. It might say the shell has been removed but it almost always still contains little pieces! Mix well to combine all of the ingredients and saute for about 5 minutes or until well heated and vegetables are wilting. Add a couple teaspoons of both oregano and thyme. Stir.
Remove the mixture from the heat and stir in roughly 1 cup of fat-free or low-fat shredded mozzarella cheese. It will most likely melt as you stir since the mixture will still be hot, which is just fine.
As your mixture is finishing up or just as it finishes you'll want to whip up your Alfredo sauce. Melt about 4 teaspoons of butter over medium heat in a small sauce pan, stirring as it melts. Add 1 1/2 cups fat-free half and half. Add 1/8 cup of heavy whipping cream. Typical Alfredo sauce uses all whipping cream but we're just using a dash (1/8 cup for a LOT of pasta) and mostly substituting fat-free half and half. This cuts the calories and fat astronomically - guilt away!
Add 1 cup grate fresh Parmesan cheese and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, stirring constantly. It should melt quickly, so just keep stirring for about 2 minutes until the cheese is melted and all of the ingredients are well mixed. Reduce heat as low as it goes. Add 3 tablespoons chopped fresh basil, stir well, and let it sit for a minute as you prepare your shells.
Use cooking spray to grease a 9x13 glass baking dish. Take each shell and stuff it full with your mushroom-crab mixture. You have a lot of mixture so stuff them liberally so they are nearly overflowing. I had to place a few shells on top as a second layer, which is fine, but you do not want an entire second layer or the dish won't cook evenly. A few on top, especially when placed slightly offset of the ones below, is fine, however. If you run out of shells you can just pour the extra mushroom-crab mixture over the top.
Pour the Basil-Alfredo sauce over the shells evenly so it coats all of them lightly. Sprinkle 1/4 cup of shredded mozzarella cheese and 2 tbsp of grated Parmesan cheese over the top of the shells. Bake at 325 for 20 minutes and serve hot.
Garlic Bread
And what pasta meal is complete without some garlic bread? I decided to make my own and attempt to make it healthier and less greasy than the delicious versions you can find at Italian restaurants. And let me tell you, it hit the spot. The warm, crunchy bread with its tantalizing garlic flavors (with a kick) was perfect on this cold winter day as we actually got some snow in DC. Make sure you buy your french bread fresh and make this before you're starving or it will be torture to inhale the smells as it cooks.Ingredients:
french bread
fake butter
fresh garlic
Italian Seasoning
pesto (optional)
shredded mozzarella cheese (optional)
Cut your french bread in half lengthwise. I actually started with half of a french bread before cutting it in half lengthwise since I was only making this for 2 people. Make sure you choose the appropriate amount. Preheat your oven to 350. (If you are cooking this in the same oven as the pasta you can use 325 just fine as well.)
Spread the fake butter on the bread. Fake butter = no calories. Yay! Can you feel the healthiness already? Mince the garlic and spread it on the bread as well. I love garlic and put it on liberally, using about 2 cloves per quarter of french bread (cut in half in length and width) but you can use more or less. Mine was pretty garlicky! Sprinkle lightly with Italian Seasoning.
Your garlic bread is now complete if you would like a basic garlic bread. I did this for half and then decided to try a fancier version for the other half. If you are interested, after spreading the butter but before adding the garlic spread on pesto. I just had refrigerated pesto from Whole Foods which I used. Then add the garlic. Once again, you can stop here (do not add Italian Seasoning to this version) or you can sprinkle with fat-free or low-fat shredded mozzarella cheese. I did that for the fancy one but left the basic one without cheese to truly envelop the garlic flavor.
Bake the bread for 8-10 minutes. Broil for 2 minutes (make sure not to broil any more than 2 minutes or it will burn.) Enjoy immediately!
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