Shrimp & Crab Spaghetti

This is the kind of spaghetti where you need a stack of napkins and zero concern about looking dignified.

A thick tomato sauce built on tomato paste, tomato sauce, garlic, onions, and a whole stick of butter simmers for 30 minutes until it’s deep and rich. Then in go two pounds of shrimp and a dozen hard-shell crabs, cracked and halved, to simmer another 30 minutes while the seafood infuses the sauce with briny sweetness.

A touch of chili powder gives the sauce a warm, subtle kick that nods to the Gulf Coast roots of this recipe. Pile it over spaghetti and dig in with your hands.

Kitchen Tips

• Crack the crabs but leave the meat in the shell. The shells release flavor into the sauce as they simmer, and picking the meat at the table is half the fun.
• Stir constantly while simmering. Tomato paste and butter can scorch on the bottom of the pan if you walk away. Keep it moving.
• Let the sauce do the work. An hour of simmering is what transforms simple ingredients into something that tastes like it took all day.