LINGUINE WITH CRAB, CHILLI, LEMON, ROCKET AND HAWTHORN

My friend Liz Knight – an inspirational hedgerow hunter – told me not to dig up my ground elder. “It was brought here by the Romans because it is so good to eat,” she explained. It is, too. I had no idea that the spring leaves of hawthorn are just as delicious as parsley. So I’ve used them in my favourite pasta dish, which always kicks off my campervan holidays.

Preparation 15 minutes Cooking Approximately 12 minutes Serves 2

250G DRIED LINGUINE

1 GARLIC CLOVE, FINELY CHOPPED

½-1 LONG RED CHILLI, FINELY CHOPPED

150G FRESH CRABMEAT (JUST WHITE OR A MIXTURE OF BROWN AND WHITE) OR 1 CAN OF CRABMEAT

ZEST OF 1 UNWAXED LEMON, PLUS A SQUEEZE OF JUICE EXTRA-VIRGIN OLIVE OIL

A SMALL HANDFUL OF HAWTHORN LEAVES OR PARSLEY, ROUGHLY CHOPPED

2 HANDFULS OF ROCKET

1 Put a large saucepan of salted water on to boil and cook the linguine according to the packet instructions.

2 While the pasta is cooking, mix the garlic, chilli, crabmeat and lemon zest with a little olive oil in a large bowl, big enough to take all the pasta.

3 Using tongs, remove the cooked pasta from the water and put straight into the large bowl with the crabmeat. Stir everything together, coating the pasta in the oily crab mixture. If necessary, add a couple of spoonfuls of pasta water and stir well until the pasta is coated in a silky sauce.

4 Season generously with salt and pepper. Mix well and taste

– it might benefit from a squeeze of lemon juice.

5 Stir in the hawthorn leaves (or chopped parsley) and rocket and serve.