Creamy Saffron Pasta with Shrimp & Crab

Here's another recipe I found while on my diet last week :)

I found this recipe online from Rachel Ray and looked pretty easy. And I've been meaning to find recipes to use up some of the saffron I bought when I made Sea Scallops with Saffron Aoli for our anniversary dinner last September. Remember the cashier who said she hoped the dish turns out good because saffron is pretty expensive? Well, I'm glad to find this recipe to use saffron again, because it is expensive.

I pretty much had all the ingredients it called for. Except Farfalle pasta. But I had other kinds of pasta, like Penne, so its what I used. This dish came out quite good. I expected this dish to be rich, but it was unexpectedly light with a hint of lemon. I'll probably be making this again to use up all the saffron.

1 lb. pasta, cooked to al dente

salt

1 cup heavy cream

1 3-inch piece lemon peel

1/4 tsp. saffron

2 Tbsp. butter

1 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

1/2 small onion, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

6-8 ounces lump crab meat

16-20 shrimps, deveined and tails removed

pepper

1/2 cup dry white wine or chicken broth

2 pinches cayenne pepper

1 tsp. turmeric

1/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh parsley

1) In a saucepan, bring cream, lemon peel and saffron to a low boil over medium-low heat. Turn off the heat and let saffron steep for 10 minutes.

2) In a large skillet, heat butter and olive oil over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and cook for 1 minute. Then add crab and shrimp; season with salt and pepper. Cook until shrimps are pink and firm, about 3-4 minutes. Slowly stir in wine.

3) Remove lemon peel from cream mixture and pour over seafood. Stir in cayenne pepper and turmeric. Add pasta and toss. Remove from heat and sprinkle fresh parsley on top.