I attempted, in all seriousness, to replicate the way that Heston Blumenthal served up his Spaghetti Bolognaise in one of his books “In Search of Perfection” which involves twisting it around a large carving fork.
I bought some Motto pasta and the inner price checker in me said why would I choose a regular flavour when I could choose the saffron or porcini version? I mean who chooses vanilla when there is saffron or macadamia to choose from? One of my ex boyfriends faced with that very ice cream decision chose vanilla. I couldn’t believe that he would pass up all of the other 49 flavours to choose vanilla so I drilled him about it. He said that he crumbled in the face of such a decision and chose the simplest and safest and thus I linked it to a kind of performance anxiety. Which is precisely what I felt when I was trying to do a Heston Blumenthal with my pasta I suppose.
Thankfully the shape took place and held. The taste was one straight from heaven. The delicate crabmeat was never overwhelmed by the other ingredients and the light lemon flavour was the perfect for marriage for this divine seafood.
Crab with Saffron Linguine
Ingredients (serves 4)
- 400g fresh linguine (I used a 200g packet of Motto’s Saffron dried linguine)
- 1 tbs olive oil
- 400g raw crab meat
- 1 garlic clove, thinly sliced
- 2 tbs lemon juice
- 1 tbs verjuice or white wine vinegar
- 2-3 tbs finely grated parmesan
- 250ml cream
- Salt & freshly ground pepper
- Chopped fresh parsley
Method
1. Cook linguine in boiling salted water until al dente. Drain and keep warm.
2. Heat pan and add oil. Add crab meat and garlic, and cook for 3-4 mins until cooked but not browned.
3. Add lemon juice, verjuice or vinegar and the parmesan.
4. Pour in cream and reduce to sauce consistency. Add drained linguine to the sauce, season and serve topped with parsley.
5. To make the pasta shape as pictured, twirl pasta around large carving fork and lay horizontally against plate and carefully slide off fork.
Adapted from Fresh Living - May 2005 , Page 49
Recipe by Andre & Sandy Shannon (My Restaurant Rules) and presentation hint from Heston Blumenthal’s “In Search of Perfection”.
9 Comments | Add your own
Looks delicious
I like how you presented it too
Gosh, I’d love this! I’ve been eyeing off the fresh crab meat at the supermarket (which is around $11?). At the Werribee Harvest Picnic (foodie event last November), I sat-in on a cooking demonstration with Tobie Puttock and another chef “Glenn”? From “Fifteen”..and one of the dishes involved like a crab salad on ciabatta or foccacia. At the end we were allowed to go up and sample the food.. and we did and we tasted a good amount of the two dishes made. The crab salad had some roasted cherry tomatoes.. it was just divine.
This pasta dish sounds and looks simply Mmmm Mmmm! Would you need less dried pasta than fresh? Wouldn’t you have too much pasta if you used 400grams of dried as opposed to 400grams of fresh?
I probably couldn’t have this amount of cream right now in a meal.. but I’ll keep it in mind for the future!
((Smiles)) at the choosing vanilla over more exotic flavours..and the performance anxiety analogy! I secretly get impatient/annoyed with “safe” eaters.. I feel like I want to say “go on.. live a little”!!
Hi Kathy-It was, I’d really recommend it for a simple but elegant meal. And I was so happy that it was easy to do, I thought I’d end up with pasta everywhere
Hi Maria-Lucky you getting to try the crab. I’ll take any chance to have crab or lobster although sometimes I feel sorry for the crabs as they have such a grumpy expression on their faces. I’ve made something similar and it was great, although I’m sure Tobie and Glenn’s would have been much better!
You’re absolutely right, I used a 200g packet of the pasta. Thanks for reminding me
You could try it with evaporated milk although it won’t be as creamy but it will be a lot less in fat.
I know, I love trying new things so I always like to try the weirdest or most outlandish flavour. I also don’t understand safe eaters, perhaps it’s prehistoric eating i.e. eating only “safe and known”foods in case of being poisoned but that was hundreds of years ago!
Note to self: Don’t order plain salad sandwiches.
LOL @ Mr NQN
ooh yum i really like the looks of that .. where did you buy your crabmeat from?
you know, my dad only eats vanilla ice cream..
LOL @safe and known foods incase of being poisoned.. haha.. it is often like that! Having said that.. simple food, done well cannot be discounted. Eg. there is a good kind of ham sandwich and a terrible ham sandwich. I remember the Two Fat Ladies creaming together butter and English mustard and spreading it over bread with the crusts off..and then putting on thinly sliced tongue and some watercress. Oh.. hang on..that’s not a ham sandwich is it? Well.. you know what I mean?! I love simple food too.. as long as it’s *quality* food! This is why I would have gone the “pork belly” for my anniversary dinner instead of the STEAMED fish.. I’ve never eaten pork belly at a restaurant before.. so I’m curious. There weren’t many choices on the regional showcase menu for our anniversary.. And I’m quite sick of reading the words “confit” and “tartare”.. like it’s supposed to excite me. HA!
Funny Mr NQN too!
Wow, this is beautiful!! What a wonderful pasta dish.
Mi Mr NQN-For you, I’d make an exception
Hi Kathy-Mr NQN is the man who likes “quantity over quality”!
Hi Tian-Thanks! my mum gave me the crab meat but I’ve seen it at fishmonger’s in packet (it’s probably frozen) or you can ask them to remove it for you from cooked crab.
Hehe my dad will only eat Chinese food!
Hi Maria-wow creamed together butter and mustard with tongue and watercress? That sounds very indulgent! Yes quality is what counts over anything else
Sorry to hear that there weren’t a lot of choices for you. I guess steamed fish is better for your diet than pork belly (I find it too fatty sometimes). I must admit that I do love a duck confit but tartare to me is only exciting in fish, not meat!
Hi Patricia-Thankyou so much! That is lovely of you to say
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