Blue swimmer crab with bucatini, tomato and verbena butter.

Blue Swimmer Crab with Bucatini, Tomato and Verbena Butter

Introducing chef Alex Prichard’s Blue Swimmer Crab recipe.

This seafood recipe is part of our Best in Season Feast Series – a celebration of the 2022 delicious Produce Awards. Showcasing five recipes from five top Australian chefs, every creation in the series utilises ingredients from this year’s Award nominees.

Alex Prichard creating a Blue Swimmer Crab recipe.
Chef Alex Prichard from Icebergs Dining Room and Bar

 

Prep time 15 minutes (+15 minutes cooking time)

Serves 4

Blue Swimmer Crab with Bucatini, Tomato and Verbena Butter Ingredients

375g bucatini pasta

100ml olive oil

50g garlic, diced

50g bird’s eye chilli, diced

50g anchovies

500g Napolitana sauce

10g fresh lemon myrtle

500g raw, picked blue swimmer crab meat

500g butter

2 Meyer lemons, juiced

Marigold flowers, leaves picked, to serve

Bronze fennel, to serve

Green basil leaves, to serve

Blue swimmer crab with bucatini, tomato and verbena butter.

Blue Swimmer Crab with Bucatini, Tomato and Verbena Butter Method

1. To make the pasta, bring a large saucepan of salty water to a boil on the Smeg 900mm Portofino Pyrolytic Freestanding Cooker. Add bucatini and cook according to packet instructions. Drain.

The Smeg 900mm Portofino Pyrolytic Freestanding Cooker with Induction Cooktop.
Smeg 900mm Portofino Pyrolytic Freestanding Cooker – available at Harvey Norman

 

2. To make the sauce, place a large frying pan over medium heat. Add olive oil, garlic, chillies and anchovies and cook, stirring, for 5 minutes or until they become fragrant, and the onion is translucent. Increase the heat to high and add Napolitana sauce and lemon myrtle.

3. Add the cooked pasta to the pan and cook for a further 2 minutes. Add crab meat and toss to combine. Remove the pan from heat and add butter and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper.

4. Serve pasta with marigold flowers, bronze fennel and basil.

Best in Season Recipes

Alex Prichard cooking using produce from the Produce Awards.

Discover more recipes from our Best in Season series. Utilising ingredients from the Produce Awards, each dish in the series has been created by a top Australian chef.

Dorothy Lee’s Raw Vegetable Plate with Buttermilk Ricotta and Green Sauce

• Pasan Wijesena’s Sbagliato Negroni Mixed with Mistelle and Prosecco

Tristan Rosier’s Native Spiced Porchetta with Bitter Leaf Salad, Citrus and Herbs

• Alex Prichard’s Blue Swimmer Crab with Bucatini, Tomato and Verbena Butter

Victoria Rose’s Pavlova with Wattleseed Crème Patisserie, Cream and Poached Quince