This recipe, that Rick was inspired to write after a summer visit to Cromer on the Norfolk coast, is a celebration of great British ingredients. After returning home to Padstow, where Cornish brown crabs are landed in abundance, he set about pairing it with another favourite from his Seafood Lovers' Guide TV travels - Berkswell cheese. Made in the West Midlands, is a nutty, hard ewe's milk cheese, like Parmesan but with its own unique flavour. Feel free to use the Italian alternative if you can't find Berkswell in your local shops.
This one is really simple to recreate at home...
Serves 4
- 4 dressed crabs
- 25g butter
- Juice of ½ lemon
- 1 teaspoon English mustard
- 4 gratings of fresh nutmeg
- A good pinch of cayenne pepper
- Lemon wedges, to serve
For the topping
- 15g fresh white breadcrumbs
- 1 tablespoon melted butter
- 25g Berkswell cheese, finely grated (If you can't get Berkswell, Parmesan is very similar)
1) Pre-heat the oven to 200º.
2) Remove the crab meat from the shells and put it in a large bowl. Melt the butter and then mix in the lemon juice, mustard, nutmeg and cayenne pepper. Gently fold this mixture through the crab meat, taking great care not to break up the larger chunks.
3) Spoon the crab mixture back into the shells and lightly level the tops. Mix the breadcrumbs with the melted butter, then stir in the grated cheese and sprinkle the mixture evenly over the crab.
4) Place the crabs on a baking tray and bake for 10 - 12 minutes, until they are golden brown and the filling has heated through.
5) Serve hot, with the lemon wedges
There we have it, baked crab with Berkswell cheese. A gloriously simple recipe from some of Rick's earliest TV travels around our coast that we know you'll love trying at home with a glass of good white wine.
Happy cooking.
