Lemon, Chilli & Mint Crab Linguine

This recipe is one of my favourite crab recipes not only because it is simple to make but because of the mint. It really lifts the whole dish. Crab can be rich, but this dish is superb. When I can, I like to use my own grown produce as it is so beautifully fresh it just makes this dish all the more delicious.

To feed two you will need

Around 8 oz of linguine

Salt

3 shallots finely chopped

Freshly ground black pepper

4 tablespoons of unsalted butter

Approx ⅓ cup fresh mint roughly chopped or torn

1 teaspoon of minced garlic

1 or two red jalapeno or Thai chillies ( seeded and sliced into rounds)

2 teaspoons of lemon zest

2 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice

Approx 8 oz of cooked crab meat ( I like to use mixed dark and white for a really sweet flavour)

Method

Cook the pasta in a pot of salted boiling water, but don’t overcook it.

In the meantime, melt 1 tbsp butter with 1 tbsp of olive oil over a medium heat in a large skillet ( a wok type pan will do if you don’t have a skillet.)

Add the shallots and cook until soft, add garlic and chilli and stir occasionally until fragrant for approx a minute.

Add ½ tbsp of lemon juice and 3 tbsps of the pasta water and stir unlike the liquid almost evaporates and becomes glossy.

Transfer the pasta to the skillet using tongs and add ½ cup of the pasta liquid. Turn up the medium to high tossing until the liquid has almost evaporated and the pasta is glossy.

Add the remaining butter and 1 tbsp of oil, 1 tbsp of lemon juice, lemon zest , crab and half the mint. If you like at this point you can add more chilli rounds.

Stir through until the butter has melted and the pasta is well coated. If dry add a little more of the pasta cooking liquid.

Tip into a large pasta dish and sprinkle with a little lemon zest, the remaining mint and a squeeze of lemon juice and serve!