Spanner crab with squid-ink angel hair pasta

SERVES 4

You can either buy squid-ink pasta or you can make your own. There are many different pasta recipes out there to try so have a look around in books to find one that works for you. Following is the pasta recipe I used in the show which was given to me by Shaun Morris, the then head chef of Berardos Restaurant at Noosa.

4 raw spanner crab claws

1 garlic clove, finely chopped

1 red chilli, finely chopped

2 tablespoons olive oil

300 g (10½ oz) raw spanner crabmeat

125 ml (4 fl oz/½ cup) dry white wine

2 tablespoons finely chopped flat-leaf (Italian) parsley

400 g (14 oz) squid-ink angel hair pasta

2 teaspoons salmon roe

Cook the crab claws in boiling salted water for 4 minutes then remove and plunge into iced water. Crack the claws and remove the meat. Set the claw meat aside until the pasta and sauce are ready to serve.

Gently fry the garlic and chilli in the olive oil for a few minutes, then add the crabmeat and cook for a few minutes, being careful not to overcook. Add the white wine and half the parsley and cook for a few minutes more until the flavours are combined, then season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Cook the pasta in boiling salted water, stirring occasionally so it doesn’t stick, until al dente. Drain well and add the pasta to the frying pan with the crab. Mix it through thoroughly with tongs to coat the pasta with the sauce.

To serve, divide the pasta, crabmeat and sauce equally between four plates and sprinkle with the remaining parsley. Top with the meat from the crab claw, then garnish with the salmon roe.

This pasta works equally well with prawns (shrimp) or squid or beautiful, fresh plump scallops. In fact, why don’t you treat yourself and use all of the above for a wonderful seafood medley.