Open Crab Lasagne with Chive Beurre Blanc

⏱ 50 min · Serves 4

Silky sheets of fresh pasta layered with sweet white crab meat, brown-crab cream and a whisper of lemon, all sitting in a glossy chive beurre blanc. It's the sort of plate you'd pay handsomely for in a smart seaside restaurant — and it comes together faster than a baked lasagne.

Per serving: 870 kcal · 33.0g protein · 45.0g carbs · 62.0g fat

Ingredients

• 8 fresh lasagne sheets (about 250g), trimmed to neat 10cm squares
• 300g white crab meat, picked over
• 60g brown crab meat
• 150ml double cream
• Zest of 1 lemon, plus 1 tsp juice
• 1 pinch cayenne pepper
• 2 tbsp finely chopped chives, plus extra to finish
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 150g baby spinach
• Salt and white pepper
• FOR THE CHIVE BEURRE BLANC:
• 2 banana shallots, finely diced
• 100ml dry white wine
• 2 tbsp white wine vinegar
• 2 tbsp double cream
• 200g cold unsalted butter, cubed
• 3 tbsp finely snipped chives
• Squeeze of lemon juice

Method

1. Make the beurre blanc base: put the shallots, wine and vinegar in a small saucepan and simmer until reduced to about 2 tablespoons of syrupy liquid, 6–8 minutes.
2. Add the 2 tbsp double cream and bring to a bare simmer. Over a low heat, whisk in the cold butter a few cubes at a time, never letting it boil, until you have a glossy, pourable sauce. Season, add lemon juice, strain if you like a smooth sauce, then keep warm off the heat (a bowl over warm — not hot — water is ideal).
3. For the crab filling, warm the 150ml cream in a pan until reduced by a third. Stir in the brown crab meat until smooth, then fold in the white crab, lemon zest and juice, cayenne, 2 tbsp chives, salt and white pepper. Keep warm.
4. Heat the olive oil in a frying pan and wilt the spinach for 1 minute with a pinch of salt. Tip into a sieve and press out all the liquid; roughly chop.
5. Bring a large pan of well-salted water to the boil and cook the pasta sheets for 2–3 minutes until just tender. Lift out carefully and lay on an oiled tray.
6. Build each plate: a pasta sheet, a spoon of spinach, a generous spoon of crab cream, a second pasta sheet set slightly askew, then a final little crown of crab.
7. Stir the 3 tbsp chives through the warm beurre blanc and spoon it generously around the lasagne. Finish with extra chives and a crack of white pepper, and serve at once.