Brown Butter Crab Tartlets with Chervil and Lemon

⏱ 55 min · Serves 6

Crisp, feather-thin pastry shells filled with sweet white crab meat bound in nutty brown butter, lifted with lemon zest and a shower of delicate chervil. They look like they came from a Michelin dining room, but they come together in under an hour — the ideal opening act for a dinner party.

Per serving: 508 kcal · 20.0g protein · 25.0g carbs · 37.0g fat

Ingredients

• 375g all-butter puff pastry (or shortcrust), chilled
• 1 egg, beaten, for egg wash
• 120g unsalted butter
• 300g fresh white crab meat, picked over
• 60g fresh brown crab meat (optional, for depth)
• 3 tbsp crème fraîche
• Zest of 1 lemon, plus 2 tsp juice
• 1 small shallot, very finely diced
• 1 tbsp chervil, finely chopped, plus extra sprigs to garnish
• 1 pinch cayenne pepper
• Sea salt and white pepper
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard
• Olive oil, for the shallot

Method

1. Heat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan. Roll the pastry to 3mm and cut six 11cm discs; line six 8cm tartlet tins, pressing well into the corners. Prick the bases, chill 15 minutes.
2. Line each with parchment and baking beans and blind bake 15 minutes. Remove the beans, brush the insides with beaten egg and bake a further 6–8 minutes until deep golden and crisp. Cool on a rack.
3. Soften the shallot in a splash of olive oil over low heat for 4 minutes until translucent but not coloured. Set aside to cool.
4. Melt the butter in a light-coloured pan over medium heat. Let it foam, swirling, until the milk solids turn hazelnut brown and it smells nutty, 4–6 minutes. Pour immediately into a cool bowl to stop the cooking, leaving nothing behind — the sediment is the flavour.
5. Whisk 4 tbsp of the brown butter with the crème fraîche, Dijon, lemon juice and half the zest until glossy. Fold in the crab, cooked shallot, chopped chervil and cayenne. Season carefully with salt and white pepper.
6. Spoon the crab generously into the cooled tartlet shells. Warm briefly in the oven for 4 minutes if you like them just-warm, or serve at room temperature.
7. Drizzle each with a teaspoon of the remaining brown butter, scatter with chervil sprigs and the rest of the lemon zest. Serve at once, with a chilled glass of Chablis.