Crab on toasted spelt with soft boiled eggs and salsa verde
By:
Simon Hulstone
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Published: 7 Oct 16
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Updated: 18 Mar 24
Creamy crab and a fresh herby salsa take egg on toast to a new level in Simon Hulstone’s recipe for a fancy, but easy, dinner party starter.
Or swap crab for mackerel in this recipe for paté and pickled radishes on spelt toasts.
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Serves 4
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Hands-on time 35 min, cooking time 6 min
Ingredients
- 4 medium free-range eggs (we like Clarence Court)
- 4-8 slices (depending on size) spelt and honey bread or similar, plus 1 slice extra if needed
For the white crabmeat
- 200g fresh handpicked white crabmeat
- 50g fresh mayonnaise
- 50g fresh chives, finely chopped
For the brown crabmeat
- 200g fresh brown crabmeat
- Finely grated zest 1 lemon
For the salsa verde
- 1 garlic clove, chopped
- 50g fresh flatleaf parsley, roughly chopped
- 25g fresh tarragon, roughly chopped
- 25g fresh basil, roughly chopped
- 25g capers in brine, rinsed and chopped
- 5 anchovies in oil, drained and roughly chopped
- 75ml best quality extra-virgin olive oil
- Juice 1 lemon
Method
- For the white crabmeat mixture, check the white meat for any small pieces of cartilage and shell (remove and discard). Put the meat in a small bowl. Mix in the mayonnaise and chives, season to taste, then cover and put in the fridge.
- For the brown crabmeat, put the brown meat into a blender with the lemon zest and some salt and pepper, then whizz until smooth. If the mixture seems very wet, add a slice of the bread, then blend to a consistency that holds its shape without being too dry. Pass through a sieve to ensure the mixture is smooth, then spoon into a bowl, cover with cling film and put in the fridge.
- Bring a large pan of water to the boil and carefully drop in the eggs. Boil for 6 minutes, then drain and refresh under cold running water for 2 minutes. Allow the eggs to cool for 10 minutes, then gently peel.
- For the salsa verde, mix the garlic, parsley, tarragon, basil, capers and anchovies together in a bowl, add the olive oil and the lemon juice, mix together well and season to taste.
- Toast and halve the spelt bread, then spoon on the brown crabmeat, followed by the white crabmeat. Top with quartered runny eggs and the salsa and eat straightaway.
Recipe from September 2016 Issue
Nutrition
Nutrition: per serving
- Calories
- 530kcals
- Fat
- 34.3g (5g saturated)
- Protein
- 33.6g
- Carbohydrates
- 20.6g (2.2g sugars)
- Fibre
- 2.4g
- Salt
- 2.1g
delicious. tips
Prep the crab up to 12 hours in advance and keep in the fridge. Please note though: if prepping ahead, it’s important to make sure your crab is very fresh.