Hot Dorset Crab on Toast

OTHER SEAFOOD

Cedar-planked mustard glazed salmon with crushed new potatoes en cocotte

Pan Fried Mackerel with Celeriac & Apple Remoulade

This makes a lovely, simple, but indulgent light lunch, with a really satisfying contrast in textures: a little crustiness from the cheese on top, then you crack through to the gooey crab, and finally hit the crispness of the toast.

Always buy fresh, unpasteurised, hand-picked crab meat. By combining some of the more flavoursome brown meat with the very delicate white meat, you have a mixture that can hold its own inside the creamy, slightly mustardy mayonnaise and under the cheese topping.

INGREDIENTS

300g fresh white crabmeat

200g fresh brown crabmeat

4 slices of good bread, preferably sourdough

80g mayonnaise

2 teaspoons English mustard

2 tablespoons finely grated Parmesan cheese

2 tablespoons finely grated Cheddar cheese

1 tablespoon chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

4 small handfuls of mixed salad leaves

4 tablespoons French dressing

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

juice of 1/4 of a lemon, plus 1 whole lemon, quartered to serve

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

a little oil, for greasing

METHOD

Preheat the oven to 180C / gas 4 and lightly oil a baking tray.

In a bowl mix together the crabmeat, mayonnaise, mustard and lemon juice, and season well.

Preheat the grill, or heat a griddle pan, and lightly toast the bread on one side only. Arrange on the prepared baking tray, toasted side down, then generously spread each slice with the crab mixture and sprinkle with a little of each cheese. Put into the preheated oven for about 8 minutes, until the cheese melts and turns golden brown. Take out of the oven, sprinkle with the chopped parsley, drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and add a twist of black pepper. Serve with the salad leaves, tossed with the dressing, and a wedge of lemon.