Crab bolognese recipe

Ingredients

• ½–1 fresh red chilli
• 1 carrot
• 2 spring onions
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1 heaped tsp fennel seeds
• 2 anchovy fillets
• ½ a bunch of fresh basil
• 2 bulbs of fennel
• Olive oil
• 320 g dried spaghetti
• 1 lemon
• 300 g crabmeat (brown and white meat)
• white wine
• 700 g passata

• 2 little gem lettuces
• ½ a bunch of fresh mint
• 1 lemon
• Parmesan cheese
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1. Halve the chilli, carrot and trimmed spring onions and put them in the processor with the peeled garlic, fennel seeds, anchovies and basil stalks. Chop off and add the top stalky part of the fennel, reserving the bulbs (and any leafy tops), then blitz everything until finely chopped. Tip into the casserole pan with 1 tablespoon of olive oil, stirring often. Put the spaghetti into the large pan, cover with boiling salted water and cook according to packet instructions.
2. Finely grate the lemon zest over the veg. Add the brown crabmeat, a splash of white wine and the passata, then stir, cover and leave to simmer. Swap to the fine slicer in the processor. Halve the fennel bulbs and trim the lettuces, then slice them in the processor and tip into a salad bowl. Rip off and slice the top leafy half of the mint, and add to the bowl with a pinch of salt and pepper, the juice of 1 lemon and a few shavings of Parmesan.
3. Roughly chop the top leafy half of the basil and sprinkle most of it into the sauce with the white crabmeat, then squeeze in the juice of the zested lemon. Loosen the sauce with a little starchy cooking water from the spaghetti, then drain the spaghetti and tip into a large bowl. Spoon the sauce on top and serve right away, scattered with the reserved basil leaves, mixing at the table, with the crunchy fennel salad on the other side, finishing both with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.