A beautiful Spanish pasta dish made with fantastic Lambay crab. The crab is a bit pricy but it’s worth it for this luxurious dish. Our fishmonger fortunately sells both prepared brown and white crab meat and also shellfish stock which makes this a tad easier.
Wine Suggestion: The richness of this dish demands a fuller-richer white and while this means that Chardonnay was our original thought, we wanted to keep it Spanish given the origin of the dish. Initially we thought a good white Rioja, like the Urbina Blanco Crianza (currently 2016 and 9 years old) which would have been excellent. Instead we stepped sideways and opened the Dominio de Tares Cepas Viejas Godello, an old-vine gem that is fermented in cask and aged on it’s lees to give richness and depth over a lemon, grapefruit and apple fruit flavours, a creamy texture and refined fresh structure.
Crab Canelones – serves 6
- 45ml olive oil
- 45g plain flour
- 500ml fresh shellfish stock (or you could use chicken stock)
- 300ml double cream
- a good grating of nutmeg
- 80g finely grated Manchego, plus extra for the top
FOR THE FILLING:
- 60ml olive oil
- 1 small shallot, finely chopped
- 2 red chillies, finely chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, finely sliced
- 50g brown crab meat
- 500g ripe tomatoes, diced
- 150ml shellfish stock (or chicken stock)
- 500g white crab meat
- 15g tarragon, finely chopped
- 250g dried cannelloni tubes
Make the bechamel first. Heat the oil in a saucepan over a medium heat. Stir in the flour and cook for a minute, then gradually add the stock, stirring continuously, until you have a smooth, thick sauce. Add the cream, nutmeg and cheese and season, then set aside.
Heat the olive oil for the filling in a separate saucepan over a very low heat. Add the shallot, chillies and garlic and cook over a very low heat for 15 minutes.
Increase the heat to medium high and add the brown crab meat and fry for 1 minute, then add the tomatoes and the stock. Season and cook for 15 minutes, then take off the heat and stir in the white crab meat and chopped tarragon.
Blanch the pasta tubes in boiling water for 3 minutes, then gently drain and cool under cold running water.
Fill each pasta tube with the crab mixture and fit them snugly into an ovenproof dish, then pour over the bechamel. Scatter over a little more grated cheese, then bake for about 30 minutes or until golden and bubbling. Serve with a green salad.
(Original recipe from The Spanish Home Kitchen by José Pizarro, Hardie Grant, 2022.)
Jono & Jules do food & wine 