Cornish crab with courgette
SERVES 4 PREP 30 mins plus chilling COOK 20 mins EASY
1 tbsp white wine vinegar 60ml olive oil
1 yellow courgette, finely sliced (use a mandoline if you have one)
2 small green courgettes 3 garlic cloves, 2 peeled, 1 peeled and sliced 1 small bunch basil, leaves picked
150g handpicked white crab meat
4 tsp pine nuts, toasted 4 green olives, pitted, very finely diced and kept in some of the brine few leaves of sea vegetables such as samphire, sea aster or salty fingers (used here) 1/4 preserved lemon, finely shredded
1 tsp herring roe (optional)
1 Put the white wine vinegar, 3 tbsp water, 1 tbsp olive oil and the yellow courgette slices in a saucepan, season with salt and bring to the boil, then turn off the heat and leave to cool in the pan.
2 Trim the sides off the green courgettes in four slices leaving two blocks of core. Finely dice the cores and sides, keeping them separate. Heat 2 tbsp olive oil with the 2 whole garlic cloves in a small saucepan, add the diced sides of the courgette and cook for 10 mins. Meanwhile, boil the kettle and get a bowl of ice water ready, drop the basil into a bowl of boiling water for 30 secs, then use a slotted spoon to transfer to the ice water. Scoop the diced courgette out of the pan, leave to cool, then blitz in a food processor with the basil. Add a little water if you need to, you should have a spoonable green purée – sieve if necessary. Put in the fridge.
3 Cook the diced courgette cores in 1 tbsp olive oil with the sliced garlic until just tender, around 3 mins, then leave to cool and remove the garlic just before serving.
4 To serve, season the crab with salt and olive oil. Spoon some courgette purée into four shallow bowls and arrange the crab in the middle. Add some of the diced courgette around the edge and some green olives at each end. Top with the courgette slices and 1 tsp pine nuts. Scatter over the sea veg, preserved lemon and fish roe.
GOOD TO KNOW 1 of 5-a-day • gluten free
PER SERVING 230 kcals • fat 18g • saturates 3g • carbs 4g • sugars 2g • fibre 4g • protein 11g • salt 1.3g