Not so Ultimate

I was looking forward to cooking this weekend because I was in New York for work the first part of the week and didn't get the chance to cook until tonight. I wanted to make something special so I grabbed Tyler's Ultimate cookbook by Tyler Florence. I was looking for a recipe I had all the ingredients for, so I wouldn't have to make a run to the grocery store and happened on Fat Noodles with Crab, Buttered Artichokes, and Mint.

The whole thing sounded pretty yummy. Alex and I like to make pasta like this with light flavorful sauce, so I thought this ROCK...but, uhm...it didn't. The recipe calls for 1 pound of parppardelle pasta, which I didn't have and substituted whole wheat pasta. But this dish just didn't have much flavor and salt and pepper couldn't take it there. The mint and lemon zest were a nice touch, but couldn't save this recipe.

Fat Noodle with Crab Buttered Artichokes, and Mint:

Serves 4

Kosher Salt

1 pound pappardelle

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter

1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil (I used 1/4 cup)

1 can (about 16 oz) artichokes, drained, rinsed and halved

Finely grated zest of 1/2 lemon

Pinch of crushed red pepper flakes

1/2 pint (8 oz) lump crabmeat

Freshly ground black pepper

Handful of fresh mint leaves, chopped

3/4 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, plus extra for serving

Bring large pot of salted water to a boil over high head. Add the papperdelle, stir to separate and cook for 8-9 minutes, until al dente. Drain and dump the pasta into a serving bowl. (You'll need to use 1 cup of the past cooking water for the sauce.)

While the pasta is cooking, combine the butter and olive oil in a medium skillet and put it over medium heat. Scoop out 1 cup of the pasta cooking water, add it to the skillet and reduce the whole thing for 5 minutes to thicken. Then add the artichoke halves, lemon zest, red pepper flakes, crabmeat and salt and pepper and toss to warm everything through. Add that to the bowl with the cooked drained pasta. Add the mint and Parmigiano and season with salt and lots of black pepper. Toss and serve with extra Parmigiano.

This really wasn't a horrible recipe, but is also wasn't 'Ultimate'. If I do this again, I would play with the seasoning to give it more flavor...probably increase the lemon zest and maybe some basil.