How to make spiced crab, asparagus and saffron tarts or tartlets
- If you don’t like the fiddly job of shelling crabs, keep it simple with pre-shelled crabmeat
- All the components – pastry case, blanched asparagus, egg and cream custard – can be prepared in advance
As much as I love shell-on crab and don’t mind the slow process of extracting the meat from the legs and body, it’s something many people dislike, saying it is too much trouble. I can count on one finger the number of people I’d be willing to de-shell a crab for, and it’s only to stop him complaining.
This dish is for people who like their crab to be neat and tidy because it uses shelled crabmeat. If you are a more generous and patient soul than me, and don’t mind taking the meat from the shells, use fresh crabs – these tarts will taste much better. (You’ll need at least two smallish crabs to get enough crabmeat.)
The best commercially available shelled crabmeatcomes frozen (it’s often raw, so it needs to be cooked before it is used; just blanch it in boiling water until it turns from opaque to white). The second best is sold chilled, in cans. Far behind is the shelf-stable unrefrigerated crabmeat.
Spiced crab, asparagus and saffron tarts
All the components of this dish can be prepared in advance. Partially bake the tart shells, blanch the asparagus, mix it with the crabmeat and put it in the fridge, and whisk together the eggs and cream for the custard filling.
About 40 minutes before you want to serve the tarts, preheat the oven, fill the shells with the crab/asparagus mixture, pour in the custard and bake.
For the chilli flakes in the pâte brisée (shortcrust pastry) and the filling, I use gochugaru (Korean chilli flakes), but use whatever type you prefer.
The tart dough and filling can also be made into bite-size tartlets, to serve as finger food.