Crab Linguine
Prep time: 1 hr 45 mins | Serves: 4
Ingredients:
• 1 whole Cornish cock crab, about 2kg (live or cooked)
• 320g dried linguine
• 40ml olive oil
• 30g unsalted butter
• 4 garlic cloves, finely sliced
• 1 small fennel bulb (about 150g), very finely sliced (optional)
• 20g tomato purée
• 40ml dry white wine
• 1 lemon, zest finely grated and 20ml juice reserved
• 3g fine sea salt 1
• 2g freshly ground black pepper 1
• 1–2g dried chilli flakes (to taste)
For finishing
• 20ml extra‑virgin olive oil
• 10g unsalted butter
• 10g fresh flat‑leaf parsley, finely chopped
• 1 medium red chilli, julienned (no seeds if you prefer it mild)
• zest of 1 lemon
• 5g fine sea salt 2 (to adjust seasoning)
• 2g freshly ground black pepper 2
Method:
1. If using a cooked crab, crack and pick all the meat, keeping brown and white meat separate; discard gills and shell fragments. If using a live crab, boil in well‑salted water (about 10g salt per litre) for 15–18 minutes per kg, then cool in the cooking liquid, drain, pick the meat and reserve.
2. Bring a large pan of well‑salted water to the boil. Cook the linguine until just shy of al dente (about 1 minute less than packet instructions). Reserve 200ml pasta water, then drain.
3. While the pasta cooks, heat 40ml olive oil and 30g butter in a wide pan over medium heat. Add garlic and fennel, cook 4–5 minutes until soft but pale. Stir in chilli flakes, then the brown crab meat and tomato purée if using; cook 1–2 minutes. Deglaze with white wine, reduce by half, then add lemon juice and 100ml pasta water to form a loose sauce. Season with salt 1 and pepper 1.
4. Add the drained linguine and white crab meat to the pan. Toss gently over medium heat for 1–2 minutes, adding a little more pasta water if needed so the sauce lightly coats the pasta.
5. Remove from the heat and quickly fold through extra‑virgin olive oil, 10g butter, parsley, julienned red chilli and lemon zest. Taste and adjust with salt 2 and pepper 2, then serve immediately.
