I chose to alter the classic recipe slightly by adding chilli, and excluding the tomato. I was aiming for something a little more refreshing and with a slight bite. Sadly, I could not judge the end-result myself, as I have a crayfish allergy (how cruel is that?!)
Anyway, recipe follows – it’s not rocket science though, so I’m simply typing it out very informally:
- Crayfish, boiled until bright red (you should be able to separate the tail from the body by pulling it lightly, otherwise it’s undercooked)
- A batch of fresh egg linguine (for a small quantity use 180g of white bread flour to two eggs and one egg yolk – you can also add some semolina for a bit of bite)
- Lemon, chopped garlic, chopped fresh or dried chilli, glass of white wine and sprig of rosemary
Cook the linguine in the same water used to boil the crayfish in (thanks for the great tip Jan Tripepi).
In the meantime, roughly chop meat extracted from the crayfish’s tail and legs (mine was quite a bulky dude, so the legs had ample meat. If yours is a skinny specimen, I would not bother with the legs too much).
Fry the garlic, chopped chilli and whole sprig of rosemary in a bit of olive oil, being careful not to burn the garlic. Add the glass of wine and let it bubble for a minute or two. Add the crayfish meat and quickly heat through. Discard the sprig of rosemary, and then add the cooked linguine to the crayfish pan. Quickly stir through. Add a decent dash of fresh lemon juice, some West Coast fleur de sel and black pepper. Serve with more fresh lemon and parsley.
