Asparagus & Crab Linguine

Ingredients (Serves 4-6):

• 300g dried linguine
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 2 freshly dressed crabs (meat taken out of the shells)
• 1 bundle of British asparagus, trimmed and cut into 3cm lengths
• 100g of butter
• 3 tbsp parsley, finely chopped
• 2 tbsp chives, finely chopped
• 1 onion peeled and finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
• 1 mild red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
• 50ml vegetable stock
• 1 lemon, juiced

Method:

1. Cook the linguine in plenty of boiling salted water for approximately 10-12 minutes. Drain the majority of the water and add the olive oil, stir through the pasta and keep warm.
2. Meanwhile, melt the butter in a large sauté pan, add the onion and asparagus and season well with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.
3. Sweat over a medium heat for 2-3 minutes then add the chilli and garlic and cook for another minute.
4. Add the crab along with the vegetable stock and cook for a further 2 minutes.
5. Stir in the chopped parsley, chives and lemon juice then add the pasta and make sure all the ingredients are mixed together thoroughly. Season if necessary to taste and serve immediately.

Tip: Leave a little bit of the cooking water in the pasta to prevent the linguine from sticking together. If you don’t happen to have any chives then an alternative could be to use the tops of spring onions finely chopped.