Two tasty autumnal seafood dishes from Michelin-star chef Michael Smith

Recall those lazy, hazy days of summer with flavoursome autumnal seafood dishes from Michelin-star chef Michael Smith

I’m sharing two fishy recipes today – one with smoked mackerel, the other with crabmeat – both of which are plentiful at this time of year.

Both dishes use store-cupboard ingredients which means they can be made throughout the autumn and winter months, but add a taste of summer sunshine to the dinner table.

Salad Nicoise is a classic, south of France summer dish, but my version replaces most of the anchovies you’d normally use with Scottish smoked mackerel.

It’s a healthy, light salad, full of flavour. Crab is a sustainable product and at this time of year, easy to find in fishmongers and supermarkets.

My recipe for crab linguine is another Mediterranean-type dish which will give you a sunshine lift in the darker months.

You can make your own pasta, or use store-bought, as both work well for this dish that has a luxurious feel, but is very easy to make.

www.lochbay-restaurant.co.uk

Smoked mackerel nicoise INGREDIENTS

SERVES 2 2 eggs

50g tinned French beans

4 ripe tomatoes

¼ of a cucumber

2 spring onions, finely chopped

½ a red pepper, thinly sliced

50g small black olives, pitted

1tbsp capers

A few basil leaves, roughly torn

1 fillet smoked mackerel, skinned and flaked

1 small clove of garlic

Pinch of coarse salt

2 anchovies, finely chopped

Small handful of basil leaves, torn

4tbsp extra virgin olive oil

½tbsp red wine vinegar

Black pepper

DIRECTIONS

Put the eggs in a pan of cold water and bring slowly to the boil.

Simmer for seven and a half minutes, then decant into a bowl of iced water.

Meanwhile, drop the tomatoes into boiling water for 15 seconds, then peel, slice and de-seed them.

Peel the cucumber in stripes, then deseed and cut into half moons.

Make the dressing by pounding the garlic to a paste in a pestle and mortar along with a pinch of coarse salt.

Add the anchovies and then the basil, and pound to a paste, adding the olive oil and the vinegar as you go. Season with black pepper.

To put the salad together, toss the beans, tomatoes, cucumber, spring onion and red pepper together with two-thirds of the dressing and decant on to a plate.

Peel and quarter the eggs and arrange on top, along with the olives, capers, flaked mackerel and basil leaves.

Spoon the remaining dressing over the salad and serve immediately.

Crab linguine

INGREDIENTS

SERVES 4

400g linguine

1tbsp Scottish rapeseed oil (plus a little extra to drizzle)

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 red chilli, de-seeded and finely chopped

1tsp fennel seeds, crushed

1 lemon

200g brown crabmeat

200g white crabmeat

Small bunch of parsley, roughly chopped

DIRECTIONS

Cook the pasta in a large pan of salted boiling water until “al dente”.

Meanwhile, heat the rapeseed oil in a frying pan over a medium-low heat and fry the garlic, chilli and fennel seeds for a couple of minutes until soft but not coloured.

Add the zest of half a lemon and the juice of all of it, and then stir in the brown crabmeat.

Drain the pasta, reserving a few spoonfuls of the cooking water, and toss with the sauce, along with the white crabmeat and parsley.

Add the extra water if the dish seems a little dry.

Season to taste, and divide between bowls. Drizzle each bowl with a little extra oil, and serve immediately.