Maggie's crab sandwiches sandwiches with tomato and saffron jam

Name: Crab sandwiches sandwiches with tomato and saffron jam recipe
Yield: 6
Ingredients: 6 blue swimmer crabs or 500g freshly picked or frozen blue swimmer crabmeat; 62.50 ml reserved crab ‘mustard’ (from about 3 crabs) or 350g grated bottarga (I used a Microplane grater); 300g mayonnaise; Lemon juice; 6 crusty white bread rolls; 2 handfuls rocket; 1 lemon, cut into 6 wedges; Pinch of saffron threads; 40.00 ml extra virgin olive oil; 1/2 onion, finely chopped; 125ml verjuice; 40.00 ml red wine vinegar; 1 x 400g can diced tomatoes; 30.00 ml caster sugar; 1/2 tsp sea salt

Rate now

Jump to recipe

by delicious. team

delicious. team

Oct 28, 2021

Maggie and Colin Beer have been among my closest and dearest friends for the past 40 years. We have holidayed together, cooked together, drunk wine together, argued and laughed together, and we all hope to do more of it. But Colin has always caught the crabs! Blue swimmer crabs vary in size and the quantity of crabmeat given here does not need to be exact. Although more would always be better!. This is an edited extract from from Home by Stephanie Alexander.

6 blue swimmer crabs or 500g freshly picked or frozen blue swimmer crabmeat
1/4 cup reserved crab ‘mustard’ (from about 3 crabs) or 350g grated bottarga (I used a Microplane grater)
1 cup (300g) mayonnaise
Lemon juice
6 crusty white bread rolls
2 handfuls rocket
1 lemon, cut into 6 wedges

Tomato and saffron jam

Pinch of saffron threads
2 tbs extra virgin olive oil
1/2 onion, finely chopped
1/2 cup (125ml) verjuice
2 tbs red wine vinegar
1 x 400g can diced tomatoes
1 1/2 tbs caster sugar
1/2 tsp sea salt

Method

1.

If you have whole crabs, bring a very large stockpot of heavily salted water (1/4 cup salt to 1L water) to a boil over high heat. Tip in the crabs and bring back to a boil – the crabs are cooked when the shells are bright red, no more than 5 minutes. Scoop out the crabs and cool upside-down over the sink for water to drain from the shells.
2.

Remove the shell from each crab. Scoop the ‘mustard’ from 3 crabs into a small bowl, then cover and refrigerate. Carefully remove all the crabmeat from the body and legs – a pair of scissors, a skewer, a meat mallet and a heavy knife are helpful here. I like to do this on a workbench covered with an unused large black plastic liner bag so that any speck of shell or cartilage can be more easily identified.
3.

Cover the picked crabmeat and refrigerate. If you have bought picked frozen crabmeat, remove it from its packaging and thaw on a folded pad of paper towel on a plate, refrigerated and covered.
4.

To make the tomato jam, place the saffron threads and 1 tbs warm water in a small bowl and set aside to steep. Heat the olive oil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook for 5 minutes or until softened and translucent. Add the remaining ingredients and the saffron mixture and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and simmer for 30-40 minutes or until reduced and jammy. Leave to cool. Store the jam in a sterilised jar in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.
5.

Measure 1/4 cup of the reserved crab mustard, if available, and whisk it into the mayonnaise. Otherwise, fold in the grated bottarga. Taste for seasoning. You may need a few drops of lemon juice or a little extra salt. Fold two-thirds of the mustard mayonnaise through the picked crabmeat, leaving the rest for the final garnish.
6.

Split open the bread rolls. Divide the greens and crab and mayonnaise mixture between them – pile it in! Place each filled roll on its own plate with a spoonful of the tomato jam and another of the remaining mayonnaise alongside for each of your guests to add as preferred, and serve with a lemon wedge. Large napkins are a must!