Pomegranate and sumac dressing drizzled across the sweet crab meat with chili peppers and pistachios and stuffed inside of shell pasta.
The Perfect Mediterranean Pasta Salad
Having grown up in a Mediterranean influenced home, yet right here along the crab capitol of Maryland, I just had to combine the two for a perfect summertime luncheon.
Blue crabs are in season only during the warm months of the year and so making this crab salad for summertime meals was the perfect way to showcase my two M’s (Mediterranean and Maryland)!
Crabs Crabs and More Crabs!
The Chesapeake Bay of Maryland has some of the best, fat, sweet crabs around, and while Crab Cakes (featured on Food Network’s Guy’s Grocery Games), or my newly invented Mac and Cheese Crab Rolls (featured on Food Network’s Clash of the Grandmas), are both something to boast about, I wanted to make something more delicate and healthy with this luscious crab meat.
The sweet and yet pungent Pomegranate Dressing with the citrus spice of sumac brought contrast to the sweet meat of the crabs.
Toss in the crunch of pistachios and some fresh pea shoots with shredded carrots and you’ve got a very healthy, yet flavor satisfying salad.
The Better Pasta Salad
Pasta salad became a ‘thing’ when I was growing up in the 60’s. It was usually swimming in mayonnaise and definitely not something I grew a liking to.
A healthy crab salad with bright, as well has a bit of heat in the salad itself, then stuffed inside a pasta shell makes for the best pasta salad I’ve ever had.
I’d love to hear what you think of this salad especially if you too grew up with mayonnaise style pasta salads!
Ingredients Needed
- Crab meat
- Pistachios
- Red chili pepper flakes
- Pomegranate seeds
- Pea shoots
- Carrots
- Chives
- Jumbo Pasta Shells
- Pomegranate Sumac Dressing
Equipment Needed
- Mixing bowl
- Cutting board
- Chopping knife
- Mixing spoon
- Small spoon
- Box grater or vegetable peeler – to shred the carrots
- Measuring cup
- Measuring spoons
- Stovetop or burner
Mediterranean Crab Pasta Salad
Course: Pasta, Salads and VeggiesCuisine: Mediterranean2
servingsPomegranate and sumac dressing drizzled across the sweet crab meat with chili peppers and pistachios and stuffed inside of shell pasta.
Ingredients
Crab meat – 8 ounces
Pistachios – ½ cup, rough chopped
Red Chili Pepper – 1/4 tsp
Pomegranate Seeds – 1/4 cup
Pea Shoots – ½ cup of mostly leaf tips and enough whole shoots for the bed under the shells
Carrots – ¾ cup, shredded and then chopped to confetti
Chives – ¼ cup chopped to confetti
Cooked Jumbo Pasta Shells – 12
Pomegranate Sumac Dressing – 1/4 cup
Directions
- Toss shells in enough dressing to coat them so they don’t stick together, and to flavor the shells before filling.
- Gently mix the crab, nuts, pomegranate seeds, shoots, carrots, and chives.
- Add enough dressing to the mix, without becoming too wet. Gently fill the shells with the crab filling.
- Place whole pea shoots on a plate. Display the stuffed shells on top of the shoots. Drizzle a very little amount of dressing across the plate, or a little pomegranate molasses from the dressing recipe. Serve
I believe the table... that place that draws people to gather, is the most powerful symbol of togetherness. All that happens before the table is set, the planning, the gathering, the preparing, are all an intricate part of the dance that create the mood of celebration to share with friends and loved ones.
