Golden fried crab and basil spaghetti

Lovely and light, and using the finest ingredients, this is one of the quickest pasta dishes to make. The flavours of the crab, wine and cream intermingle beautifully, lifted by the lemon and basil. A whole dressed crab consists of both white and brown meat – the brown meat giving richness to the dish – but you can use just white meat if you prefer. Dressed crab in the shell is easily obtainable from a supermarket or fishmonger, or you can buy a pack of mixed crabmeat, or just the white or brown meat on its own. Tins of dressed crab make a good standby otherwise.

SERVES 6 COOK TIME 25 MINUTES

350g (12oz) dried spaghetti 2 tbsp olive oil 1 onion, finely chopped 1 garlic clove, crushed 100ml (3½ fl oz) white wine 150ml (5fl oz) pouring double cream 1 dressed crab (about 120g/4¼ oz in the shell), removed from shell and the shell discarded juice and finely grated zest of 1 lemon large bunch of fresh basil, chopped, plus extra whole leaves to garnish 100g (4oz) fresh white crabmeat 75g (3oz) fresh white breadcrumbs salt and freshly ground black pepper 1 Cook the spaghetti in a saucepan of boiling salted water according to the packet instructions. 2 While the spaghetti is cooking, heat half the oil in a large, deep frying pan (it needs to be big enough to toss the spaghetti into the sauce). Add the onion and cook over a high heat for 3-4 minutes. Lower the heat, cover with a lid and cook for a further 10 minutes or until tender (see tip). Add the garlic and fry over high heat for a minute. 3 Pour in the wine and boil until reduced by just under half. (This will only take a couple of minutes.) Add the cream with the dressed crabmeat, lemon juice and half the lemon zest. Sprinkle in the chopped basil (reserving the whole leaves to garnish), season with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring continuously, for a few minutes until combined. 4 Drain the spaghetti and add to the wine and crab sauce, stirring it in to coat well in the sauce. 5 In a separate pan, heat the remaining oil until hot, then add the fresh white crabmeat with the breadcrumbs and the remaining lemon zest and fry for a couple of minutes until golden. 6 Divide the spaghetti among bowls and serve scattered with the fried crabmeat and reserved basil.