Crab and prawn ravioli with seafood bisque
Soft pasta filled with zesty seafood and served in a full-flavoured seafood bisque.
Ingredients
For the pasta
- 450g/1lb ‘00’ flour
- 3 large free-range eggs, beaten, plus 2 yolks
- 1 unwaxed lemon, finely grated zest only
- salt
- semolina flour, for dusting
For the ravioli filling
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 150g/5½oz raw prawns in their shells
- squeeze lemon juice
- 150g/5½oz white crab meat
- 50g/1¾oz brown crab meat
- 1 free-range egg white, plus 1 egg, beaten
- 1 tbsp finely chopped fresh chives
- freshly ground black pepper
For the bisque
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 small onion, roughly chopped
- 1 garlic clove, crushed
- 3 tbsp brandy
- 2 tomatoes, roughly chopped
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 tbsp tomato purée
- 1 star anise
- 300ml/10fl oz shellfish (or fish) stock
- 125ml/4fl oz double cream
To serve
Method
To make the pasta, put the flour into a large bowl and make a well in the centre. Stir in the eggs and yolks, lemon zest and a pinch of salt, and gradually work into a dough. Knead for 10 minutes, then wrap in cling film and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, to make the filling, place a frying pan over a medium heat. Add a dash of oil and fry the prawns with a pinch of salt and pepper and the lemon juice. Leave to cool slightly, then remove the prawns from their shells, reserving the shells for later.
Place the prawn and crab meats in a food processor and blend until smooth. Add the egg white and seasoning and blend again until just mixed. Stir in the chives, cover and set aside.
To make the bisque, heat the oil in a heavy-based saucepan and fry the onion until brown. Add the garlic and prawn shells and cook for another 30 seconds. Stir in the brandy, tomatoes, bay leaf, tomato purée and star anise. Stir in the stock and simmer for 20 minutes.
Strain the sauce using a funnel and muslin cloth and return to the pan. Stir in the cream and cook over a medium heat until it is the consistency of single cream. Season to taste.
To make the ravioli, cut the pasta into four pieces and roll out each piece using a pasta machine, working it through the settings until it is on the thinnest setting. Sprinkle semolina flour onto a work surface and lay a sheet of the pasta on top. Spoon tablespoons of the filling up the centre of the pasta, leaving a 4cm/1½in gap between each spoonful. Brush around the filling with beaten egg, lay a second sheet of pasta over the top and seal each one by cupping and expelling any air. Use a cutter to cut out the individual ravioli. Repeat with the last two sheets of pasta until you have 12–16 individual ravioli.
Bring a large saucepan of water to the boil and cook the ravioli for 3–4 minutes. Transfer to the bisque pan to coat.
Place three or four ravioli on each plate, spoon over the sauce and garnish with the chives and a small drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.