This dish makes a feature of beautiful, juicy, sweet, crab meat, spring peas and broad beans. It makes a great canape if you’re having guests over, or a delicious light lunch for 2-4. Get creative with the ingredients, you could add asparagus or any other seasonal veg that takes your fancy. If you want to stretch out the crab meat a little, a cup or so of fresh ricotta will in no way diminish the dish.
High quality picked crab meat is now available from fishmongers, so if you don’t have the time or inclination to spend hours picking over the shells you can still enjoy this delicacy. Picked meat is most often either spanner crab from Queensland or blue swimmer crab from Western Australia. Don’t be put off if it’s frozen, proper defrosting (in a colander in the fridge) will ensure that the quality is still high. We recommend you take picked meat out of its packaging as soon as you get it home and leave it to stand in a colander for a few hours so it’s not too wet.
Makes approx 24 canapes
500g cooked Spanner or Blue Swimmer Crab meat, drained
1 Cup fresh broadbeans
1 Cup fresh peas
1 lemon, segmented
1 preserved lemon
1 handful basil leaves
1 handful mint leaves
2 Tbs mayonnaise
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 baguette or other crusty bread
1 clove garlic, peeled
Extra Virgin olive oil