Meatless Monday: Crab and Spinach Pasta with Fontina

Okay, so pasta with crab isn't entirely MEATLESS but I am still working to reduce the red meat intake and increasing seafood is not a bad choice. This dish also appeared to have all the elements for a dish my husband would love: red sauce, spinach, pasta and crab!

The recipe actually came from a & co-worker. She received an introductory copy to Better Homes and Garden's recipe selections and she brought it into work to give me an opportunity to copy any that piqued my interest. I was immediately drawn to this one and photocopied it right away. Luckily, a quick search and I found it online too:Crab and Spinach Pasta with Fontina

The biggest challenge of making this dish was finding a 2-quart square baking dish so I settled for a rectangular one and got my ingredients together. The recipe calls for any tomato-base pasta sauce, so I went for the arrabiata for a little spice. I was also luck to get some adorable kitchen help:

I thought it looked delicious before I even added the cheese on top. I used my favorite Wacky Mac bow tie pasta to get some extra good-for-us stuff in there.

but we all love cheese so cheese on and into the oven it went:

 And 30 minutes later a very yummy looking final product:

The thing is, it was good, but not outstanding. I thought it would be substantial enough to serve on its own, but it was extremely light and would be a nice brunch menu item to go along with other things. It also needed more spice as the arrabiata didn't come through as I hoped. We experimented adding a little crushed red pepper to our meals, and that added some depth. I think a little garlic may give it a little more life too. Hey you never know what a recipe will be like until you try it! 

Let me know if you have made something similar, have an idea or try it out.