Mediterranean Crab Pasta Salad (with video)

Mediterranean Crab Pasta Salad, flavors of a Pomegranate vinaigrette, sweet crab meat, chili peppers and pistachios, stuffed inside of shell pasta. 

Maryland Crab Pasta Salad - Mediterranean Style
Maryland Crab Pasta Salad – Mediterranean Style

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)!

Captain Alan Poore Crabbing
Captain Alan Poore Crabbing

Crabs Crabs and More Crabs!

The Chesapeake Bay of Maryland has some of the best, fat, sweet crabs around.

Our dearly loved family waterman (4th generation), Captain Alan Poore, spoils our family with crabs in the summer and oysters in the winter.

Having featured my Maryland Crab Cakes on Food Network’s Guy’s Grocery Games, gave me the chance, nationally, to showcase a dish I grew up eating.

Add to that, my newly invented Mac and Cheese Crab Rolls, featured on Food Network’s Clash of the Grandmas (episode 2), are both something to boast about!

I wanted to make something more delicate and healthy, with this luscious crab meat, for everyday, at home cooking.

This recipe just quietly happened! 

Blue Crabs From The Chesapeake Bay
Blue Crabs From The Chesapeake Bay

Blending My Mediterranean Roots With My Maryland Cooking Ingredients

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. 

How lucky we are to live in a time in which ingredients from around the world are made available, no matter where we live.

Pomegranate was once only available around the winter months here in America.

However now, with the juice of the pomegranate available all year, Mediterranean recipes can be possible year round as well.

Pomegranate Dressing
Pomegranate Dressing

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, both bright and a bit spicy, is what I wanted stuffed inside pasta shells and easy to serve.

Definitely not a pasta salad swimming in dressing, but rather a pasta salad that allows each flavor to shine through.

I’d love to hear what you think of this salad, especially if you too grew up with mayonnaise style pasta salads!

Jumbo Pasta Shells
Jumbo Pasta Shells

Ingredients Needed

  • Crab meat
  • Pistachios
  • Red chili pepper flakes
  • Pomegranate seeds
  • Pea shoots
  • Carrots
  • Chives
  • Jumbo Pasta Shells
  • Pomegranate Sumac Dressing
Crab Pasta Salad
Crab Pasta Salad

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

Mediterranean Crab Pasta Salad

Pomegranate and sumac dressing drizzled across the sweet crab meat with chili peppers and pistachios and stuffed inside of shell pasta. 
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Course: Pasta
Cuisine: Mediterranean
Keyword: Mediterranean Crab Pasta Salad
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 45 minutes
Servings: 2 servings

Equipment

  • Pasta pot

Ingredients

  • 8 oz Crab meat
  • 1/2 cup Pistachios rough chopped
  • 1/4 tsp Red Chili Pepper
  • 1/4 cup Pomegranate Seeds
  • 1/2 cup Pea Shoots
  • 3/4 cup Carrots shredded and then chopped to confetti
  • 1/4 cup Chives chopped to confetti
  • 12 Jumbo Pasta Shells cooked
  • 1/4 cup Pomegranate Vinaigrette Salad Dressing Homemade

Instructions

  • 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

Video

Mediterranean Crab Pasta Salad
Mediterranean Crab Pasta Salad
Robin
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