Ingredients
Serves 4For the bruschetta:
Four big slices of good quality sourdough bread
1 piece of garlic, peeled
Extra virgin olive oil
Four handfuls of freshly picked crabmeat
About one teaspoon of freshly chopped chilli
Small handful of roughly chopped flat leaf parsley
Zest and juice of one lemon
Small handful of tarragon
Small handful of mint
Small handful of rocket
For the aioli:
1 egg yolk
½ teaspoon of mustard
Sea salt and freshly cracked pepper
Handful of purple or green basil leaves, beaten in a mortar and pestle or finely chopped.
Method
"I normally buy my crabs whole and then cook them either in real seawater or I try and replicate seawater by adding a good amount of salt, this really seems to bring out the natural flavours in the crabmeat."
To make aioli: Separate the egg yolk into a bowl, add the mustard and then very slowly add the extra virgin olive a little at a time while whisking furiously. The egg yolk should bind with the oil to make a sort of mayonnaise.
Once the base aioli is thick, and hopefully not split, you can fold in a little salt and pepper to taste, a little lemon juice and the bashed or finely chopped basil leaves. Mix well, cover and place in the fridge.
Place the picked crabmeat into a bowl; add the lemon zest, chopped chilli, parsley, a good lug of olive oil and season to taste.
Bring the tarragon, rocket and mint leaves together and dress them with a little olive and lemon juice.
Grill the sourdough on either a barbeque or oven top grill plate. Once they are nice and toasted remove them form the grill. Rub the garlic clove over each piece of bread.
To assemble: Arrange the bread on the plates, heap some of the crab on one side of each piece of bread and then scatter the herb salad over the other side.
Finally lob a little of the basil aioli over the crab, finish with cracked pepper and serve immediately.