DISH DECONSTRUCTED

How to make: chef Dom Chapman's crab ravioli

By Daniel Woolfson

- Last updated on GMT

Crab ravioli: making the most of seasonal seafood
Crab ravioli: making the most of seasonal seafood

Related tags Crab Pasta Egg

This recipe from Dom Chapman, chef-patron of Berkshire pub the Beehive, may have a longer list of ingredients than an epic poem. But once the components are prepared, this delicate pasta dish is relatively simple to put together and quick to cook. 
Ingredients
  • (Filling) 1kg white crabmeat, 500g brown crabmeat, 200g salmon mousse, 5g tarragon, 5g chervil, 10g parsley, 10g chives, lemon juice to taste, salt & pepper. 
  • (Salmon mousse) 200g smoked salmon, 200g sole, 1 egg white, 600ml double cream, salt & pepper. 
  • (Pasta) 250g pasta flour, 1 whole egg (med), 4 egg yolks (med), 1 tbsp olive oil, 1 tbsp cold water, pinch of salt.
  • (To finish) tomato concasse, samphire, chervil, cream, crab stock, brandy, white wine, pernod. 

Prep time: ​45mins-1hr

Cook time: ​3-5 mins

Inside tips 
 

  • Chapman uses large cock crabs boiled live for 10 minutes in water with lemon juice, salt and aromatics, but it is equally viable to buy white and brown crab meat in – the fresher, the better.
  • He finishes his dish with a crab stock made from the shells, but there are a number of ready-made stocks that can be used to good effect. He uses the stock to create a sauce for the ravioli by simmering it for an hour with white wine and finishing with double cream, seasoning, lemon juice and butter.
Method

Pasta

  • Put the flour into a large bowl and make a well in the middle. Pour all the other ingredients into the well and slowly start to bring the flour in from the edges.
  • Keep going until your mix starts to form a dough. As it comes together, tip the dough onto the table and knead it for four or five minutes until smooth. Cover the dough with cling film or use straight away.

Salmon mousse

  • Remove all the skin and bones from the fish and cut it into large chunks. Place it in the blender and blend with the egg white until it comes to a paste. Remove from the blender and pass the paste through a fine sieve.
  • Put the paste into a large bowl and place it over ice. Using a wooden spoon add the cream slowly, a bit at a time. Check the consistency of the mousse by poaching a little spoonful in simmering water (do not boil).
  • Continue to add cream until the right consistency is achieved. Correct the seasoning and store the mousse in the fridge until needed.

Filling

  • Combine all the ingredients, then adjust the seasoning and store it in the fridge until needed.

Ravioli

  • Weigh the filling out into 50g balls.
  • Roll the pasta at setting number one on the pasta machine.
  • Lay one sheet of pasta on a piece of parchment paper and place the filling ball in the middle.
  • Egg wash around the filling then place another piece of pasta over the crab mix.
  • Carefully press around the filling ball, making sure all the air is removed.
  • Using a cutter, trim to the right size then cover and store in the fridge until needed.
  • To cook, boil in salted water until ready (3-5 mins).

And to drink?
 

Chapman’s pasta will pair well with a dry, citric white that contrasts with the dish’s powerful, piquant seafood flavours. We suggest:

  • Kleine Zalze Chenin Blanc, 2015
  • Cuvee Balthazar Viognier, 2014
  • Chateau Les Clauzots Graves, 2015

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