Pieces of crab spread with a chilled lemon-herb butter, breaded, and pan-fried in good Italian butter until golden. A weekend supper that feels generous and crisp at once.
Ingredients
- 500 g crab meat (large pieces or whole crab sections, pre-cooked)
- 80 g unsalted butter, divided (40 g for the herb butter, 40 g for cooking)
- Zest of 1 lemon
- 1 garlic clove, crushed
- 2 tbsp fresh chives, finely chopped
- 2 tbsp fresh chervil (or flat-leaf parsley), finely chopped
- 1 carrot, 1 celery stalk, 1 leek, 1 onion (for the cooking water)
- Plain flour, for coating
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- Dried breadcrumbs (panko works well)
- Fine sea salt
Method
- In a bowl, blend 40 g of softened butter with the lemon zest, crushed garlic, chives, and chervil until smooth. Spread on a sheet of baking parchment, roll into a log, wrap, and refrigerate until firm — about 20 minutes.
- Bring 2 litres of water to a boil with the chopped carrot, celery, leek, and onion. Season with salt.
- Add the crab pieces to the simmering water and cook briefly — 4 to 6 minutes if using cooked sections — to warm through. Drain and pat dry.
- Cut a slice of the firmed herb butter and tuck it inside or over each crab portion. Coat the crab in flour, dip in beaten egg, and roll in breadcrumbs to coat evenly.
- Melt the remaining 40 g of butter in a pan over medium heat. Cook the breaded crab for 2 to 3 minutes per side, until deeply golden and crisp on every face. Drain briefly on kitchen paper.
- Plate hot, with lemon wedges and a glass of cold dry white wine.
Notes
- Chill the herb butter properly before stuffing. Soft butter will run out of the breading as it fries.
- Use a pan of butter not too deep — 1 cm is enough. The breading should set, not soak.
- Burro Nobile keeps its colour and aroma through the cooking. Cheap butter goes black quickly; this does not.
