Crab Alfredo — When the Week Was Just a Week and Dinner Was Enough

Business summer projects ramping up, commercial work, fried catfish. The summer heat is building the way a roux builds: slowly at first, then all at once, and when it hits, the only response is to keep stirring. Stirring the roux. Stirring the life. Stirring the pot of a family that is four at the table now (sometimes five when Luc comes home, sometimes three when Colette is at a friend\'s), and the stirring adjusts, and the adjustment is the skill, and the skill is: show up with the spoon regardless of how many bowls need filling.

The food this week was good. The company was better. The week was a week — not a milestone, not a crisis, just seven days of waking up and cooking and working and sleeping (six hours most nights now, bless Dr. Tran and the therapy that turned the water off) and being alive in Louisiana in the part of the year where the mosquitoes are back and the AC is straining and the only thing keeping the heat at bay is the cold beer and the knowledge that crawfish season is winding down and deer season is five months away and the calendar is a circle and the circle is the roux and the roux is everything.

The fried catfish was good earlier in the week, but by Friday I wanted something that felt a little slower — something creamy and generous and worth sitting down for, the kind of dish that makes whoever’s at the table that night feel like they showed up at the right time. Crab Alfredo is that dish for us. It’s Gulf Coast by nature, rich without being fussy, and it doesn’t care if there are three at the table or five — it scales with the bowl count, same as everything else around here.

Crab Alfredo

Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 20 minutes | Total Time: 30 minutes | Servings: 4

Ingredients

• 12 oz fettuccine pasta
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
• 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• 8 oz lump crab meat, picked over for shells
• 1/2 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon salt, or to taste
• 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
• Lemon wedges, for serving

Instructions

1. Cook the pasta. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook fettuccine according to package directions until al dente. Reserve 1/2 cup pasta water before draining.
2. Build the sauce base. In a large skillet over medium heat, melt butter. Add garlic and cook for 1–2 minutes, stirring frequently, until fragrant but not browned.
3. Add the cream. Pour in the heavy cream and bring to a gentle simmer. Let it reduce for 3–4 minutes, stirring occasionally, until slightly thickened.
4. Melt in the Parmesan. Reduce heat to low and stir in the Parmesan a little at a time, mixing until fully melted and the sauce is smooth. If the sauce is too thick, add a splash of reserved pasta water to loosen.
5. Fold in the crab. Gently stir in the lump crab meat, Old Bay, salt, and black pepper. Cook for 2–3 minutes just until the crab is warmed through — don’t overwork it or it will break apart.
6. Toss with pasta. Add the drained fettuccine to the skillet and toss to coat everything evenly in the sauce. Add pasta water as needed to reach a silky consistency.
7. Serve. Divide into bowls and top with fresh parsley. Serve immediately with lemon wedges on the side.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 680 | Protein: 32g | Fat: 34g | Carbs: 62g | Fiber: 3g | Sodium: 720mg