Bacon, Shrimp, and Crab Pasta

One of my weaknesses is a good, hearty pasta dish. And you can’t get much more hearty than adding some crispy cooked bacon. I took it next level though and added my two favorite seafoods — crab and shrimp. I’ve been on a seafood kick lately for some reason, so I had a bit left in the fridge I needed to finish up. I have another favorite seafood pasta that’s a copycat of one of my favorite restaurants around here — they unfortunately took it off their menu, but you can find the recipe here: Crab Pasta with a Chardonnay Cream Sauce. 

For the sauce, I made a wine sauce with a shallot and jalapenos. I LOVE spice, but the spice wasn’t overwhelming since I removed the seeds and there was so much pasta. My favorite store-bought pasta I’ve found so far is the Al Dente brand, here I use the Fiesta Fettuccine. It cooks in three minutes and tastes as close to handmade as I can find (around here!). The cornmeal is an heirloom cornmeal from some local (Bon Secour) farmers. Can’t beat it! I also bought some grits from them and can’t wait to share a killer shrimp & grits recipe soon! 

I started by frying up some chopped bacon in a saute pan. I like Wright brand applewood smoked bacon — but use whatever you like

Saute the shallot and jalapenos in with the butter. I used the same pan that I had cooked the bacon and shrimp. This is the flavor base of your sauce. I used a red and green jalapeno because they’re just beautiful (and that’s what I had!)

When the pasta was finished cooking, I added it to the pan with the sauce. I love the color of the sauce — looks like pure flavor, right?!

Add the bacon and crabmeat and stir gently. You don’t want to lose all the chunkier pieces of crab — they are SO yummy!

Add the pan-fried shrimp on top at the end. I now wish I would’ve garnished with something green, but oh well. The flavors were all so beautiful together. Nice and hearty — very comforting for all this cold weather we’ve been having!