Angel hair pasta with crabmeat, jalapeno, mint

Freshly cooked crab is essential for this recipe. Avoid anything marked "previously frozen."

Start to finish: 20 minutes

Servings: 4

1/2 pound cooked crabmeat, cleaned and picked through

1 jalapeno pepper, stemmed, seeded and minced

1 clove garlic, minced

12 fresh mint leaves, torn

6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

1 pound angel hair pasta

Juice of 1 lemon

Salt, to taste

In a large bowl, combine the crabmeat, jalapeno, garlic, mint and butter. Set aside.

Bring a large saucepan of salted water to a boil. Cook the pasta according to package directions, about 3 minutes. When the pasta is al dente (still slightly firm at the center), do not strain. Use tongs or a slotted spoon to scoop out the pasta and add it to the crab mixture. Toss, then add the lemon juice. Season with salt.

Nutrition information per serving (values are rounded to the nearest whole number): 629 calories; 177 calories from fat (28 percent of total calories); 20 g fat (11 g saturated; 1 g trans fats); 86 mg cholesterol; 83 g carbohydrate; 26 g protein; 2 g fiber; 293 mg sodium.

(Recipe from Jonathan Waxman's "Italian, My Way," Simon & Schuster, 2011)