11 Delicious Summer Crab Recipes

Generously salt a large pot of boiling water and add the pasta. Cook al dente.

While the pasta is cooking, place a frying pan on medium heat and add a large glug of olive oil.

Add finely chopped garlic and chilli to the pan until it starts to sizzle. Chop the cherry tomatoes in half, add to the pan along with the crab meat and fry for 2 minutes. Deglaze the pan with some white wine and let this reduce by half.

Drain the pasta (keeping a ladle of pasta water to hand) and add to the frying pan with a touch of pasta water. Toss all the ingredients together and season with salt.

Add chopped parsley and lemon zest to finish.

Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil. Cook the spaghetti according to the packet instructions.

While you are waiting for the spaghetti to cook, in a large frying pan, heat the olive oil, add the garlic, fennel seeds, and cook over a medium heat until the garlic starts to turn golden brown. Remove from the heat and add the chilli, crab, lemon zest, juice and parsley.

Once the pasta is cooked drain thoroughly and then add to the pan with the crab sauce, season with sea salt and plenty of black pepper, mixing well.

Divide between 4 warm bowls, sprinkle over the radishes and serve at once.

Cut the crab legs in small pieces. Wash and separate the salad leaves. Wash and chop the chives. Slice the avocados.

Make a vinaigrette by mixing the olive oil, lemon, salt and pepper.

Display the salad leaves on a plate, add the crab meat and leg pieces, then the avocados.

Drizzle with the vinaigrette and sprinkle the chives on top.

To make the saffron aioli; first soak the saffron strands in a little boiling water for about 15 minutes.

Next, place the saffron and water, garlic, egg yolks, mustard, vinegar and salt in a large bowl. Mix the two oils together in a jug and using a whisk slowly incorporate the oil drip by drip into the egg mixture. As it begins to thicken you can add the oil a little faster. When all the oil has been used up check for seasoning, adding a little more vinegar or salt if needs be. Then set aside until ready to use, the flavour is better if you can leave for 24 hours, but this is not essential.

If using a whole crab, first cook for 15-20 minutes, cool and remove all the meat – keeping the white and brown meat separate.

Next sweat the leeks, garlic and chill in the butter with the nutmeg until soft – about 5 minutes. Do not allow them to colour. Remove from the pan and allow to cool a little.

Place the mashed potato in a bowl and once cool, add the leek mixture, both crab meats and the chopped parsley. Season with salt and pepper and mix well.

Shape the crab cakes into round patties (roughly 60g each) and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes or so to firm up.

Next slowly heat up 5cm of rapeseed oil in a tall-sided pan for frying to 180°C.

Meanwhile sort the cornflour, eggs and breadcrumbs into three bowls. Then pass the cakes first into the flour, then the eggs and finally the breadcrumbs. Placing them on a tray until you are ready to fry them.

When the oil has reached 180°C, fry the crab cakes in batches of 2 or 3 for about 2 minutes (or until they turn a nice golden brown). Drain on kitchen paper and keep warm in a low oven.

Serve the crab cakes with a good dollop of the saffron aioli and a seasonal green salad.

Place the egg yolks, mustard and lemon juice into a food blender. Turn on and gradually pour in the oil. Adjust consistency with hot water as required. Taste and adjust seasoning. Reserve until required.

Mix all the crab salad ingredients together and adjust seasoning to taste.

Blend together the crab mayo ingredients and adjust seasoning to taste.

To make the coriander oil, place the oil and leaves into a pan and gently warm until 60°C. Pour into a jug blender and blend for 5 minutes. Pour into a muslin cloth and strain over a chilled bowl. Keep the oil cold to retain the colour.

Mix all the vinaigrette ingredients together and put to one side.

To serve, add a spoonful of the crab salad to a plate. Add the crab mayonnaise to the plate, then the coriander vinaigrette. Finish with the diced apple.

Peel the cucumber and peaches, discard the skins. Remove the stone from the peaches and chop the flesh of both into rough chunks. Mix them together in a large bowl with the coriander seeds, white pepper, vinegar, wine, olive oil, sugar and salt. Bruise the basil by spanking the leaves between the palms of your hands to release the oils and add to the mix. Don't break or chop the basil as you're going to remove it later. Now cover and leave the mixture somewhere cool to marinate for at least a couple of hours.

This is a perfect opportunity to cook and pick your crab if you've decided to go for a live one. Dress the picked crab meat with a generous pinch of salt and a squeeze of lemon. Uncover your bowl and fish out the basil. Stir in the ice (6-8 cubes depending on size but have more on hand should you need to adjust the consistency). Blitz together in a jug blender or juicer until really smooth then, using the back of a ladle, pass through a sieve. Adjust the seasoning, adding a good splash of green tabasco if you like.

Divide the soup evenly into six bowls, add a dollop of the seasoned crab on top, and garnish with very thinly sliced jalapeños and a handful of coriander.

Wash the potatoes then steam or gently simmer for around 20 minutes until cooked through. Drain and allow to cool before cutting into bite-sized pieces and placing into a large dish.

Mix the lemon juice, garlic, chilli and coriander into the oil, then gently stir in the crab meat. Add to the potatoes and mix through.

Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve.

For the crab cakes, carefully pick through the crab meat for any pieces of cartilage or shell. Combine in a bowl with the soy sauce, potato, chilli, garlic, lime juice and crab meat and season well.

Divide the mixture into 70g and shape into even-sized balls. Lightly coat with flour, egg, then the breadcrumbs, then repeat the egg and breadcrumbs. Set aside until ready to cook.

Heat a deep fat fryer to 180ºC and fry the crab cakes until golden and crispy.

Drain the crab cakes on a tea towel and serve immediately with a side of watercress.

Make the mayonnaise the day before you plan to serve it. Place the brown crab meat, egg yolks, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce and mustard into a blender and process until smooth. Add the lemon juice and bread. Process again until the mixture is smooth, stopping the machine occasionally to give it a stir.

Very slowly trickle the oil into the blender, processing on a low speed as you pour. Stop the machine occasionally to scrape down the sides with a spatula and stir. When the mayonnaise is smooth, empty it into a bowl and season if necessary. Cover with clingfilm and refrigerate overnight.

At J Sheekey we present this in an oval mould to emulate the shape of a crab shell. The best way to serve this at home is on individual plates with equal portions of white crab meat, accompanied by the egg and brown crab mayonnaise. Serve with wholemeal toast.

Heat up a tablespoon of olive oil in a frying pan and add the fresh white crab meat, garlic and fresh chilli and cook on a medium heat for roughly 2 minutes.

Next add the shellfish or fish stock and cover, leaving to reduce and letting the flavours develop.

Separately, boil water in a saucepan with a generous pinch of salt, and cook the linguine, draining once al dente.

Add the cooked linguine to the saucepan and heat it all through together.

Finish with the parsley, butter and dried chilli, with a final garnish of a squeeze of lemon juice. Serve in a large pasta bowl.

First make your dressing by whisking the sweet chilli sauce, olive oil and lime juice and zest in a cup.

Pop your salad leaves in a large salad bowl and add the crab meat, mango, avocado, spring onions, cucumber, tomatoes, mangetout and parsley.

Pour over the dressing and toss lightly but thoroughly, then taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper if needed. If you like, top with some grated parmesan.