Grilled Spider Crab As Cooked In Spain
Spider crab may be hard to find but it is
worth seeking out. Try to buy the meat only, as it's time-consuming to pick
from the shell. The cooked meat is so good it's worth eating it dressed simply
with olive oil, lemon juice and lettuce leaves, but this dish is superb too. It
can be made equally successfully with the more common brown crab.
Grilled
Spider Crab As Cooked In Spain
Serves 2
·
Olive oil
·
2 tbsp finely chopped leeks
·
8 cherry tomatoes, quartered
·
1/2 garlic clove, crushed to a paste
·
2 tbsp finely chopped celery
·
1 tbsp dry sherry
·
1 tbsp brandy
·
60g cooked brown spider crab meat
·
A few fresh tarragon leaves, chopped
·
50m1 double cream
·
Sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper
·
150g cooked white spider crab meat
·
Handful of fine fresh breadcrumbs
·
Small knob of butter
·
1 tsp finely-chopped fresh curly parsley
·
Lemon wedges to serve
Preheat the grill to hot. Heat 1 tbsp olive
oil in a pan, add the leeks, tomatoes, garlic and celery and cook over a low
heat until softened, about 4 minutes. Increase the heat, add the sherry and
boil off, then add the brandy and boil off again. Stir in the brown crab meat
and tarragon, then add the cream, taste and season and take off the heat. Stir
in the white crab meat.
Pour into the shells or dishes, sprinkle
the top with breadcrumbs, add a small knob of butter and brown under the grill.
Sprinkle with the parsley and serve with lemon wedges.
Crab Linguine With Basil, Lemon And Chilli
Crab is an old favourite of mine. This dish
has such fresh clean flavours, and is best eaten with fresh crusty bread and a
glass of chilled white wine.
Crab
Linguine With Basil, Lemon And Chilli
Serves 4
·
100ml olive oil
·
Zest and juice of 11/2 lemons
·
4 red bird's eye chillies, finely chopped
·
350g fresh linguine
·
240g white crab meat 25g fresh Basil leaves,
torn
·
Crushed sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper
Put the olive oil, lemon zest and chopped
chillies into a small pan and place over a gentle heat until they begin to
sizzle. Remove from the heat and set aside.
Bring a large saucepan of salted water to
the boil. Add the linguine and cook according to the packet instructions (about
4 minutes). Drain well, rinse with boiling water and set aside.
Tip the chilli and lemon oil into the pan
that the linguine was cooked in. Add the lemon juice and cook over a medium
heat until sizzling. Return the linguine and add the crab meat. Toss gently for
1-2 minutes to warm the crab through. Fold in the basil and season with crushed
sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper.
Spoon into warmed serving bowls
