Crab with Saffron Linguine

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

An original recipe by Not Quite Nigella

Ingredients (serves 4)

• 400g/14ozs fresh linguine (I used a 200g packet of Motto's Saffron dried linguine)

• 1 tbs olive oil

• 400g/14ozs 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/8.8flozs cream

• Salt & freshly ground pepper

• Chopped fresh parsley

Method

Step 1 - Cook linguine in boiling salted water until al dente. Drain and keep warm.

Step 2 - Heat pan and add oil. Add crab meat and garlic, and cook for 3-4 mins until cooked but not browned.

Step 3 - Add lemon juice, verjuice or vinegar and the parmesan.

Step 4 - Pour in cream and reduce to sauce consistency. Add drained linguine to the sauce, season and serve topped with parsley.

Step 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".