Buttery Crab Pasta

This recipe is from Melissa Clark, who's cookbook Dinner in French came out early in the pandemic. Unfortunately, at that point we were mostly perfecting our homemade pizza, and having troulbe sourcing simple things like flour and yeast, so bucatini and crab were definitely not on offer. This is an excellent use of high quality crab, and stretches it to feed a crowd. It also comes together in under 30 minutes, to the point where you can do the prep work while the water is boiling and the pasta is cooking. Fine sea salt, as needed 8 ounces bucatini or linguine 4 tablespoons (½ stick) unsalted butter ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving 2 cups halved golden or red cherry tomatoes 1 scallion (white and green parts), thinly sliced 1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes, plus more to taste ½ cup fresh chervil leaves, divided Finely grated zest of 1 lemon Juice of ½ lemon Freshly ground black pepper, to taste 8 ounces lump crabmeat, picked over to remove any stray shells Extra-virgin olive oil, for serving Flaky sea salt, for serving Bring a large pot of heavily salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook until al dente (usually a minute or two less than the package directs). Reserve 1 cup of the pasta water and drain the pasta. Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Whisk in ½ cup of the pasta water and the Parmesan. Then stir in the tomatoes, scallion, red pepper flakes and a large pinch of salt and simmer for 1 minute. Stir in the pasta, ¼ cup of the chervil, the lemon zest and juice, and black pepper to taste; toss until warmed through. Gently fold in the crabmeat. Remove the skillet from the heat and serve the crab pasta sprinkled with Parmesan, the remaining ¼ cup chervil, a drizzle of olive oil and flaky sea salt to taste.