Pasta with Fava Beans, Crab, Thyme, and Cream

From the Jessica MacMurray Blaine collection

Introduction

This sauce was adapted from one of Marché restaurant’s most popular spring dishes. The restaurant uses something similar as the filling for a crab Napoleon, and shaves some white truffle over the top, but it’s equally lovely tossed with pasta.

Ingredients

Steps

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and cook the pasta while you’re preparing the sauce.
2. Sauté the butter, shallot, and thyme for a minute or two over medium heat, until the butter is melted and the shallot is beginning to soften. Add the cream, turn up the heat a bit, and reduce just until the cream starts to thicken, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the crab, peas, and favas while the cream reduces. (The vegetables and crab are already cooked, so the key is to just warm them through without overcooking them.) Adjust the seasoning; the pasta will mellow the flavors, so be careful not to underseason.
3. Toss with the pasta and serve immediately.

Notes

Read more about favas in Jessica MacMurray Blaine’s “Favas.”