“This rarely comes off the menu at Padella, and for me it is one of the most elegant pasta dishes in the world,” says Tim Siadatan. “I love the mix of the delicate sweet white crab and creamy brown crab meat, which gives a much fuller shellfish flavour than if you just use the prized white meat.
“With all creatures from the sea, ‘fresh is best’, and especially with crab. Ideally buy them live and then cook and prep them yourself – it’s a bit of a faff but it’s worth it and there are loads of tutorials online to guide you. Alternatively, a good fishmonger will sell freshly picked crab.”
Tagliarini with crab, chilli, lemon and parsley
Serves: 4
Ingredients:
450g fresh tagliarini (also works with: fresh fettuccine; dried linguine, spaghetti or bucatini)
300g freshly picked white crab meat
150g freshly picked brown crab meat
2 heaped tbsp finely chopped red chilli (deseeded)
Finely grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
2 heaped tbsp finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
About 150ml high-quality extra virgin olive oil, plus extra to finish
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Method:
1. For the pasta, in a large cooking pot, bring 4–5 litres of water to the boil and add a fistful of salt.
2. In a large bowl, mix the white and brown crab meat together with the chilli, lemon zest and juice, chopped parsley and about 150ml of the extra virgin olive oil. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
3. Transfer the crab mixture to a pan large enough to easily hold the cooked pasta as well and add a small ladle (about 60ml) of the seasoned pasta water. Stir (off the heat) to combine; the hot pasta water will warm the crab through.
4. Loosen the pasta bundles through your fingers so they won’t stick together as they cook. Drop the tagliarini into the boiling water and cook for about 1–1½ minutes. Drain the pasta as soon as it’s ready, keeping two mugs of pasta water.
5. Add the pasta to the crab mixture with half a mug (about 120ml) of pasta water. Stir vigorously over a medium heat for about 1 minute until all the crab is coated around the pasta and the sauce has thickened. You might need to add splashes of the reserved pasta water to loosen the sauce if it becomes too dry. Be careful to add just enough to get the consistency of the sauce right; if it’s too thin, you’ll end up overcooking the delicate crab as you reduce the sauce. Taste and adjust the seasoning with salt and/or pepper if required.
6. Divide the pasta between hot plates, drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and eat immediately.
Recipe from ‘Padella’ by Tim Siadatan (Bloomsbury Publishing, £25)
