Many people think that making a risotto is laborious and time-consuming, but generally speaking, it takes about 20 minutes from adding the first ladleful of stock. Fresh crab is in season and you can pick it up from the supermarket.
Ingredients
- 4 tbsp brown crab meat and 250g fresh white crab meat (from larger supermarkets and fishmongers)
- A few dashes of Tabasco sauce
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 100g cold butter, cubed
- 1 small onion or 2 small shallots, chopped
- 350g risotto rice
- 200ml white wine
- About 1.4 litres vegetable stock, hot
- Good handful chopped fresh basil, plus extra basil leaves, to garnish
Method
- 1. Put the brown crab meat in a mini-processor with the Tabasco and lemon juice and blitz to combine. Check the seasoning.
- 2. Heat the oil and 50g of the butter in a large pan over a medium heat. Add the onion or shallots and cook, stirring for about 2 minutes, until soft and translucent. Stir in the rice and cook for a further 2 minutes.
- 3. Turn up the heat and add the wine. Bubble rapidly for about 2 minutes to cook off the alcohol, then reduce the heat to medium and begin adding the hot stock, a ladleful at a time, stirring continuously. Allow each addition to be absorbed before adding the next, until al dente – it should take about 18 minutes.
- 4. Add the blitzed brown crab meat and cook for another 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the remaining butter, white crab meat and basil. Serve immediately, garnished with basil leaves.
Nutritional info
Per serving: 677kcals, 31.6g fat (15g saturated), 22.7g protein, 80.5g carbs, 3.1g sugar, 1.8g salt
Wine Recommendation
Try a fine, well-balanced white like Chablis with this, or if you want to be more adventurous, a good, youthful rosé will work, too.