By Chef Elliot Plimmer
Linguine – serves 2 (prep time 35 minutes – cook time 5 minutes)
500g x Dried Linguine
500g x mussels (debeard and washed)
500g x Clams (debeard and washed)
200g x White Crab meat (picked for shell)
350ml x Double Cream
1/2 x bunch of chives (finely chopped)
1 x red chilli (deseeded & finely diced)
100g x parmesan (finely grated)
200ml x white wine
20g x Ginger (roughly chopped)
2 x Cloves of Garlic (roughly chopped)
To start make sure the clams and mussels are washed under cold running water for around 10 minutes, clean and remove any beards, once they are cleaned drain the water making sure there is no grit remaining.
Place the mussels and clams in two seperate bowls with 100ml of the white wine in each bowl. Get a Saucepan that has a matching lid, place on a high heat and once searing hot add a little oil and 1/2 the ginger and garlic to the pan after about a minute, add the Mussels and place the lid on top quickly to trap the steam. cook for around 3/4 minutes or until they are all open.
Drain into a colander and retain the liquid. repeat the process for the clams. set the shellfish to one side while they cool down.
While the mussels and clams are cooling, get a cold plate or tray and pick through the crab to make sure there is no remaining shell or Cartilage, put in the fridge.
Then pass the stock from the shellfish through a sieve into a saucepan and start to reduce on a medium to high heat and get a large pan of boiling water, season with salt for the pasta.
Next we need to get the mussels and clams out of the shells, pick through them, and place them all together, if some of the clams and mussels are closed please discard them.
When the water comes to a boil, cook the pasta for around 6/7 minutes until it is just aldente, drain the water but save a small amount of the pasta water, this will help adjust the consistency of the sauce. Cool the pasta under running water to stop it cooking further. toss a little veg oil through it to stop it sticking.
At this point now the stock should have reduced by around half the more you reduce the more intense the flavour will be.
Add the cream to the stock and bring to the boil and it will begin to thicken. Now we can add the crab to the sauce along with the chopped Chilli.
To finish, add the pasta, shellfish & chive mix well and check the seasoning if it is a little too thick, add some of the pasta water we saved earlier to the desired consistency.
And it is ready to plate. I like to garnish with finely grated parmesan and a Chilli Oil which is really simple to make, take 1/2tsp of Chilli flakes to 200ml of Olive oil.
If you want to make it really chefy follow this video on YouTube for a tutorial on using a carving fork to plate your pasta.
https://youtu.be/3P2Bdp3eoTs
Thanks and enjoy!!
