Aaron’s Christmas present to me one year: a cooking class at the beautiful Sydney Seafood School, in Pyrmont called ‘Quick & Delicious’.
One of the last times I drank wine was during the instructional portion of the class, where we sat in auditorium-style seating and watched a middle-aged blonde woman (obviously from the North Shore) explain step by step how to make three seafood dishes, dissing Woolworths/Coles by saying she doesn’t need to wash her mushrooms because she gets them from Harris Farm.
The instructional portion’s end came a lot sooner than expected so I felt obliged to down the rest (ie. most) of my wine before proceeding to the actual cooking part. Which meant, I started the cooking portion a little tipsy, which is not advisable in a strange kitchen with strangers.
The kitchen was beautiful, Masterchef style islands. We were partnered up with another couple, and between us we made three recipes, after which we all sat and ate together like old friends.
This recipe was my favorite of the three!
Ingredients
- Preserved lemon
- 250g spaghettini –
- extra virgin olive oil
- 1 Small red onion, finely diced
- Salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 1 teaspoon sambal oelek chilli paste (see notes)
- 300g cooked crabmeat (see notes)
- 1 lemon, zested
- 4 cup finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
- 25g salted butter, cubed
- 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan
Instructions
- Rinse preserved lemon, remove and discard flesh and dice the skin finely.
- Heat olive oil in a frying pan over a medium heat, add onion and a good pinch of salt, stir well, cover and cook until it just starts to colour.
- In Bring a large saucepan of water to the boil, add 2 tablespoons of salt then add pasta, stir well and continue boiling, stirring occasionally, until it is al dente (cooked, but still retaining a ‘bite’ in the centre).
- Meanwhile, add sambal oelek to onion, stir well, then add crabmeat.
- Cook over a medium heat for a couple of minutes until crabmeat just warms through. Remove from heat if ready before the pasta.
- When pasta is cooked, drain and add to frying pan over a low heat.
- Add preserved lemon, lemon zest, parsley, butter, parmesan, salt and pepper. Toss well and serve immediately into warmed pasta bowls.
© SYDNEY SEAFOOD SCHOOL