Beautiful crab cakes

By Jamie Oliver

Jamie's homemade crab cake recipe is a perfect summer dish served with a spicy blackened salsa, you can't go wrong.

Ingredients

• 500g potatoes, peeled and larger ones halved
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• olive oil
• 500g mixed white and brown crabmeat (2:1 brown to white), from sustainable sources, ask your fishmonger
• 2 lemons
• a few sprigs of fresh flat-leaf parsley
• ½ a fresh red chilli
• 3 spring onions, trimmed
• SALSA
• 1 red pepper, quartered and deseeded
• 10 cherry tomatoes, on the vine
• 1 fresh red chilli, halved lengthways and deseeded
• 1 spring onion, trimmed and finely sliced
• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• a few sprigs of fresh basil

Instructions

1. 1

   Add the potatoes to a large pan of salted boiling water and cook for 15 to 20 minutes, or until tender. Meanwhile, blacken the pepper, tomatoes and chilli in a large frying pan on a high heat with a small splash of olive oil, then leave to cool.

2. 2

   Drain the potatoes in a colander and leave to steam dry for a few minutes then return to the pan. Add a pinch of salt and pepper and the crabmeat then mash with a potato masher.

3. 3

   Finely grate the zest of a lemon onto a board, add the parsley, chilli and spring onions and chop it all together, mixing as you go, until fine.

4. 4

   Scrape this into the pan of crab mixture and mash again till well combined. Divide into 12 portions then shape, pat and hug each one into a patty. Pop in the fridge for at least 4 hours, or overnight, to firm up.

5. 5

   When you’re ready to cook, add a splash of olive oil to a large frying pan on a high heat. Add half of the patties and cook for about 5 minutes, turning halfway, or until golden, crisp and cooked through, then repeat with the second batch.

6. 6

   Meanwhile, chop the blackened veg with the sliced spring onion as coarsely or as finely as you like. Have a taste then add a pinch of salt and pepper, the extra virgin olive oil and the juice of ½ a lemon.

7. 7

   Pick and add the basil leaves, discarding the stalks. Chop again until you’re happy with the consistency.

8. 8

   Lay the crab cakes out on a platter and top with that delicious salsa. Serve with a simple lemony dressed rocket salad and lemon wedges for squeezing over.