Culture

Crab Minestrone With Stuffed Shells

Crab Minestrone With Stuffed Shells
3.3 from 24 ratings
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A great  bowl of minestrone is hard not to love, but is even better with some fresh crabs thrown in and served alongside crabmeat stuffed shells. The crabmeat makes it a more substantial meal, and the minestrone is a great sauce for the shells.
Servings
9
servings
Ingredients
  • 1/2 cup olive oil
  • 6 live hard-shell crabs
  • 1 cup chopped celery, divided
  • 1/2 cup chopped leeks
  • 1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
  • 8 cloves garlic
  • 1 cup tomato sauce
  • 8 cup chicken stock
  • 1 tablespoon coarse salt
  • 1 tablespoon peppercorns
  • 1/2 cup diced carrots
  • 1/2 cup green beans
  • 1/2 cup tomato concasse
  • 1/2 cup chopped spinach
  • 1 cup white beans, cooked
  • 1/4 pound small pasta shells
  • 3 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1/4 cup breadcrumbs
  • 1/4 cup butter
  • 3/4 cup lump crabmeat
  • 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
Directions
  1. Heat olive oil in a large soup pot. Add crabs, ½ cup of the celery, leeks, basil and 6 cloves of the garlic. Sauté, stirring for 5 minutes. Add the tomato sauce, broth, salt and peppercorns.
  2. Bring the liquid to a boil and simmer for 30 minutes, skimming and discarding foam that rises to the top. Drain the broth and discard vegetables. Return broth to soup pot and bring to a simmer.
  3. Mince the last two cloves of garlic. Reduce the broth to approximately 1 ½ quarts. Add carrots, the rest of the celery, and the green beans and cook for about 5 minutes. Add the tomato concasse, spinach, white beans, minced garlic, salt and pepper and simmer an additional 5 minutes.
  4. Cook the pasta shells in boiling, salted water until al dente. Drain, discard any broken shells, and toss the remainder of shells with 1 tablespoon olive oil. Reserve.
  5. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  6. Mix the breadcrumbs and butter with crabmeat, salt and pepper in a bowl and mix until thoroughly combined. Spoon the crabmeat mixture into a pastry bag and using a small tip, fill each shell. Coat a baking pan with remaining olive oil and place filled shells in pan. Bake for 10 minutes.
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