Crab tart and a much needed glass of wine

I won’t lie - I love crab, so I relish it in any form. Though it's wonderful simply dressed with lemon or gobbled up with a smudge of homemade mayonnaise, I was feeling adventurous this week and so came up with this Asian inspired tart with sesame oil and chilli. It’s a quick thing to make, which leaves more time to relax in the garden with a warm slice and a glass of wine. And after the week we've had here in London, I can tell you I need that glass of wine...

I only used the sweet white crab for this dish but if you want to use the brown meat too, spread it over the base of the tart before adding the rest of the filling.

FRESH CRAB, SESAME AND RED CHILLI TART

~for the pastry:
125g (1 cup, loosely packed) plain flour
A pinch of salt
55g butter
Cold water
1 egg white

~for the filling:
3 eggs and 1 egg yolk
225ml milk
150ml double cream
250g white crab meat
2 tbsp finely chopped chives
1 fresh, mild red chilli, finely chopped
1/8 tsp sesame oil
2 tsp sesame seeds

1)First make the pastry by rubbing the flour, salt and butter together with your fingertips until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Slowly add cold water, one tablespoon at a time, until a dough forms, then chill for half an hour. Roll out to a thickness of 3mm, and use to line a greased 20cm x 3cm loose bottomed tin. Trim the excess pastry and prick the base all over with a fork.

2)Line the tin with greaseproof paper and fill with baking beans, then bake at 20 minutes at 350f/180c/gas mark 4. Remove the beans, and bake for a further 5 minutes, then brush the tart case with egg white and bake for 2 further minutes before leaving to cool.

3)To make the filling, whisk the remaining eggs, cream, milk and sesame oil together with plenty of black pepper and a little salt, then stir in the crab, chives and chilli before pouring into the pastry case. Sprinkle the top with the sesame seeds and bake for 35-45 minutes, until the centre is set but still a tiny bit wobbly. Allow to cool and heat warm or cold.