Underneath the glitter and tinsel, December can be a time of fatigue, one deadline and work party and hosting obligation after another. It can be hard to catch a breath, let alone work out what to serve people coming round for drinks or dinner or Betwixtmas loafing.
But fear not – this year, I’ve got a solution for any festive gathering. It’s both easy to throw together but fully impressive, even restaurant-grade. It’s ideal as a starter, as finger food to serve with drinks, or as a meal in its own right. That solution is crab toast.
Crab toast is often cast as a summertime dish; I picture it eaten languidly by a pool and spritzed with lime, or dotted with tomato and basil. But in its decadent sweetness, crab also feels rich enough for the holidays.
That thinking led me to this wintry take on crab toast. First, fennel – really at its best in winter – is caramelised, trading its green, refreshing sweetness for a burnished bass note. The caramelisation process is slow, but it’s also mostly hands-off, and the only real bit of cooking that this recipe requires.
Once cooled, that caramelised fennel is mixed with white and brown crab meat, plus crème fraîche (spring for the best quality you can find), capers (just enough to add a salty contrasting pop) and tarragon (which offers an anisey echo of the fennel). To tie it all together, swerve lime or lemon in favour of clementine. Squeezing the juice over the warm pan of fennel releases a perfume of pure Christmas; adding more to the crab itself is just enough. Serve generous dollops of the crab mixture on slices of good bread (toast it in a pan with butter for good measure).
For this year’s celebratory fizz, I turned to Domaine de l’Accent’s Matis. A beautifully elegant, dry pét-nat from the Languedoc, the wine has clean grapefruity notes that absolutely sing alongside the crab. As my husband said when he first tried the pairing: Who needs Champagne and oysters?
Caramelised Fennel Crab Toast
Serves 6-8 as a starter or small plate
2 large bulbs fennel
6 tablespoons good-quality olive oil, divided
3 tablespoons salted butter, divided
Fine sea salt, to taste
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
400g white and brown crab meat
2-3 tablespoons good-quality crème fraîche
20g tarragon ½ small jar capers (approx. 40 grams)
2 clementines or tangerines
1 large baguette (or use ciabatta or another preferred bread), thinly sliced
1. First, caramelise the fennel. Remove the top stalks and root ends, then slice each bulb in half lengthwise. Discard the cores and any bruised outer layers, then thinly slice.
2. Place a large frying pan over medium-high heat and add 4 tablespoons of olive oil. Once hot, add the fennel. Cook for 3-4 minutes, stirring frequently, or until the fennel has softened. Add 2 tablespoons of the butter, season to taste with salt and pepper, then turn the heat down to its lowest level. Cook, stirring occasionally, for approximately 30–40 minutes, or until the fennel is deep golden-brown.
3. While the fennel caramelises, prepare the rest of the crab salad. Transfer the crab meat to a large bowl and pick over to remove any pieces of shell. Add the crème fraiche and the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Remove the tarragon leaves from the stems and roughly chop; rinse the capers. Add both to the mix.
4. Right before the fennel is done caramelising, add the zest and juice of 1 clementine to the pan, and mix through. Remove from the heat and transfer the fennel to a small plate; place in the fridge for 10 minutes to cool slightly. Set the frying pan aside, but do not clean it yet.
5. Add the zest and juice of the second clementine directly to the crab mix. Once the fennel has cooled, add and stir through until well-combined. Taste the crab mixture and add any additional seasoning if needed.
6. When you’re ready to serve, add the remaining tablespoon of butter to the frying pan where you caramelised the fennel, and place it over medium-low heat. As soon as the butter melts, add the baguette pieces. Toast for 1–2 minutes, until golden-brown; then repeat on the reverse. You may need to do this in several batches, and with additional butter, depending on the bread you’ve chosen and the size of your pan.
7. Top each slice of toasted bread with a generous amount of the prepared crab. Serve right away.
Claire M Bullen is a professional food and travel writer and all-around lover of tasty things. You can follow her at @clairembullen. For more recipes like this, sign up to our Natural Wine Killers wine subscription - you'll receive Claire's recipe and food pairings plus expert tasting notes for three amazing wines like this one every month (or two, if you choose our bi-monthly option).
