Love Crab? Try This Vegan Crab Boil Pasta from Chefs Derek & Chad Sarno

|Updated Sep 11, 2022

This super satisfying dish is reminiscent of a good old crab boil but made animal-free! Boiling the potatoes and corn in with the pasta creates starchy pasta water that helps thicken and flavor the sauce. Some crumbled plant-based sausages add savory flavor as well. This is a perfect pasta dish for a late summer or early fall day!

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cook time: 30 minutes

Vegan Crab Boil Pasta

Serves 4

Ingredients

12 ounces spaghetti or linguine
12 ounces red potatoes (about 4 medium)
2 ears fresh whole sweet corn
Olive oil
2 plant-based sausages (about 8 oz/200 g total), such as Wicked Kitchen Chorizo
Style Sausages or Field Roast Italian sausages
2 cloves garlic
1 small tomato
1 tsp Old Bay crab boil seasoning
1/4 cup vegan butter
1/4 cup grated vegan Parmesan, plus some for garnish
Handful of fresh basil leaves

Instructions

Add the pasta to salted boiling water, give it a stir, and put a lid on the pot to return the water to a boil.
Cut the potatoes into bite-sized chunks. After 2 minutes of boiling the pasta, add the potatoes to the pasta water. Return to a boil again. Shuck the corn, then after 2 minutes of boiling the potatoes, add the naked ears of corn to the pot. Return to a boil again, and boil until the pasta and potatoes are tender. Total boiling time should be about 12 minutes.
Remove the sausage from the casing, then slice it on an angle or crumble it into irregular chunks. Here’s a quick hack to crumble it: halve the links lengthwise, then use a biscuit/pastry cutter to cut/mash the sausages into irregular crumbled sausage pieces.
Heat a wok or big deep pan over medium high heat. The pan needs to be big enough to hold the cooked pasta and should have a handle. Swirl in some olive oil, then add the sausage and cook until browned a bit, about 5 minutes. Mince the garlic, add it to the pan, and cook 1 minute. Chop the tomato and add it to the pan.
When the pasta is almost tender, use tongs to transfer the corn to a cutting board. Cut the kernels off the cobs and set aside.
Drain the pasta and potatoes, saving 3 cups of pasta water. Add the drained pasta and potatoes to the sausage pan along with the Old Bay seasoning, vegan butter, and 1 cup pasta water. Simmer the pasta in the pan, stirring like mad to marry the pasta and sauce together. Shake, flip, stir, toss…do whatever it takes to create a creamy sauce that coats the pasta. Add another 1-2 cups water as necessary to keep the pan from going dry. Near the end, add the corn kernels and season everything with salt and pepper. Chop the basil, then remove the pasta from the heat and stir in the basil and vegan Parmesan.
Divide among plates and garnish with more Parmesan and basil.

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