Crab with rhubarb, chilli, yoghurt & fennel seed

Winter

Crab is really good during the winter. The meat is rich and sweet and the shells are heavy with it. It’s also a good time to pair it up with rhubarb, another seasonal ingredient you’ll find in good shape throughout the colder months. Here, I roast the rhubarb gently, with a little sugar, chilli, olive oil and lemon zest until it’s just about to give in. Roasting has to be gentle – if the oven’s too hot, the rhubarb will cook too quickly and lose its shape. The crab is left pretty much unadulterated bar a little seasoning. Crunchy fennel seeds and natural yoghurt bring this cool, calm winter lunch together nicely.

Serves 2

Ingredients

2–3 sticks of crisp, snappy rhubarb, cut into 4–5cm (1½–2in) pieces
zest and juice of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons unrefined golden caster sugar
½ medium–hot red chilli, deseeded and thinly sliced
1 tablespoon fennel seeds, toasted and lightly crushed
4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
300ml (10½fl oz) thick Greek yoghurt
250g (9oz) white and brown crab meat, freshly picked from the crab (you want about 80 percent white meat and 20 percent brown)
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

Heat the oven to 120°C/235°F/gas mark ½–1.

Place the rhubarb pieces in a medium, shallow baking dish and pour over the lemon juice. Sprinkle over the caster sugar, and scatter over the chilli and half the fennel seeds. Pour over 1 tablespoon of water and 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and tumble everything together.

Cover the dish tightly with a piece of foil and place it in the oven for 20–35 minutes, or until the rhubarb is soft, but not broken down. (How long this takes will depend on how thick the sticks of rhubarb are.) Remove the rhubarb from the oven and set aside to cool a little.

Divide the thick yoghurt between four plates or bowls, spreading it out over the base of each. Sprinkle over the remaining fennel seeds and the lemon zest, and season with plenty of salt and pepper.

Place the crab meat in a bowl, dress with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and season with a little salt and pepper.

Arrange the dressed crab and the tender rhubarb over the yoghurt. Spoon over any sour–sweet cooking juices from the rhubarb baking dish and trickle over the remaining olive oil. Bring the plates or bowls to the table with some warm toast alongside.

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