Freshly-picked blue swimmer crab meat is a luxurious ingredient. Its delicacy and texture makes it a great addition to fresh pasta. This Blue Swimmer Crab Poached Ravioli with Yarra Valley trout caviar recipe is one of our all time favourites. It can be finished with either a classic bisque sauce or simple white wine and butter sauce.
Serves 4
Nage Stock – Makes 2 litres
3 brown onions roughly chopped
1 leek, washed and roughly chopped
2 sticks of celery, chopped
6 carrots, chopped
1 head of garlic, cut in half
1 lemon, cut into quarters
1 tsp black peppercorns
1 bay leaf
4 star anise
2 litres cold water
200ml white wine
1 sprig each of tarragon, parsley, basil, thyme
Method
1. Place all ingredients except the wine and herbs in a saucepan and bring to boil, then simmer for 20 minutes.
2. Add the wine and herb sprigs and simmer for a further 10 minutes.
3. Cool to allow vegetables and herbs to infuse. For best results cool to room temperature and refrigerate for 24 hours.
4. Strain before using.
400g crab meat – we used freshly picked, poached blue swimmer crabs
1 tbsp butter
4 red shallots, finely diced
4 garlic cloves, finely diced
1 cup nage stock
2 tbsp chopped parsley
Zest of one small lemon
Season with salt and pepper
Method
1. Melt butter in a small heavy-based saucepan.
2. Sautée shallots and garlic until soft.
3. Add nage stock and reduce until absorbed into shallots and garlic.
4. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
5. In a mixing bowl fold sautéed shallots and garlic through crab meat, adding parsley, lemon zest and seasoning.
Pasta Dough – Makes 1kg
550g 00 Flour
2 tbsp olive oil
Pinch of salt
4 whole free-range eggs
6 egg yolks
Method
1. Combine all ingredients in a food processor and blitz until the mixture comes together to form a coarse breadcrumb-like texture.
2. Tip mixture out onto a lightly floured surface and kneed until it becomes smooth, soft pasta dough. Expect to knead mixture for up to 10 minutes.
3. Wrap the dough in cling film and leave to rest in a refrigerator for 30 minutes.
4. Roll out pasta dough to a thin, even consistency, aiming for about 2mm thickness. Note: Refer to your own pasta machine instructions and follow required steps to create your pasta sheets.
Ravioli Method
1. Next cut out your desired shapes from pasta sheets to make ravioli top and bottom pieces. We hand-cut 4 and 5cm diameter circles.
2. Using a teaspoon, spoon crab mix to the centre of each ravioli base, leaving a border – approximately 1cm – for brushing with egg wash.
3. Place ravioli lid over pasta base and crab mix, pinching edges to seal.
4. Poach ravioli in gently simmering nage stock for 3-4 minutes.
To Serve
Arrange 3 ravioli on each plate and drizzle with a classic bisque sauce or white wine and butter sauce (refer to your favourite recipe for sauce options). Garnish with Reggiano parmesan cheese, Yarra Valley trout caviar and micro herbs.
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