One of my favourite convenience treats is the 100g pots of Cornish white crab, fresh from Newlyn and sold by Waitrose, among others (seafoodandeatit.co.uk for stockists). The silky white meat is perfect for this simple yet classy pasta supper. The glistening strands of silky crab look stunning against black spaghetti, but ordinary spaghetti gives similarly delicious results. The crab is mixed with finely chopped red chilli, its heat softened slightly by olive oil, lemon juice and lots of coriander. This lovely southeast Asian-inspired combo of flavours is wonderful on thick slabs of hot, buttered crusty toast or piled into curls of lettuce heart. But when mixed with peeled and seeded, finely sliced cucumber, it makes the perfect summery salad sauce for spaghetti. I like this hot or cold, in fact it is perfect — kept carefully chilled — for a picnic and would go very well with Monday’s tomato soup, also chilled.
Serves 4
Prep: 15 min
Cook: 15 min
Ingredients
1 red bird’s-eye chilli
4 tbsp best olive oil
300g black or regular spaghetti
2 x 100g tubs Cornish white crab
50g coriander
1 Lebanese cucumber or 14cm piece cucumber
1 lemon
Method
Put a full kettle on to boil. Trim the chilli and split lengthways. Scrape away the seeds, slice in thin strips and then into tiny dice. Place in a ramekin, or similar, and cover with 3 tbsp olive oil. Cook the pasta in a large pan in lavishly salted boiling water from the kettle. Drain and return to the pan with the remaining 1 tbsp olive oil. Toss and cover to keep hot. Place the crab in a spacious serving bowl. Finely chop the coriander. Use a potato peeler to peel the cucumber. Split lengthways and use a teaspoon to scrape out the seeds. Slice into very thin half-moons. Stir the cucumber into the spaghetti. Stir the chilli and its oil into the crab with the chopped coriander. Season with lemon, a little salt and plenty of freshly grated black pepper. Fold the spaghetti into the crab and serve.