It's a glorious Sunday morning. The first proper hot sunny day in Derby, England this year. (By hot I mean 21 degrees and not raining)

I'm off, I'm flying solo today, and I wanted to try out a lighter summery dish with crab. I love crab. I don't think we eat enough crab, with seafood fast becoming my favourite to cook with, I find myself pacing the isles and markets trying to hunt down sustainable fresh fish. Alas, living in central England good fresh crab is quite difficult to come by, but I managed to track down some nice looking lump crab meat in our town fish market (single stall)

Today's dish is wonderfully perfect for outdoor dining. Perfect picnic pack-up and delectable for BBQ's or a simple dish for a light, easy and fresh tasting dinner.

Crab Cakes. More prep than actual cooking. So if you're against preparing before hand you might be at a loss with this one. But with very little skill involved as well as being really quick and easy to cook it's great for weekend/day off dining. Nothing overly complicated either so you can enjoy a glass of wine during prep. (Not obligatory but highly recommended)

I really enjoyed putting this dish together as it was relatively easy to prep, chill and cook, I already had all the ingredients anyway, and didn't have to do the messy egg and flour dipping like most fish cakes. Once forming the cakes which took around 20 minutes, I had the rest of my morning to chill out.

They taste wonderfully fresh and light, all the ingredients compliment each other deliciously. Better yet? I made 6 to trial the recipe and as it's just myself dining alforno tonight, I'll definitely have plenty of leftovers for pack-up tomorrow, well, unless I eat them all tonight, which is highly likely.

So, what's it all about?

Ingredients: (Makes 6 patties)

Lump crab meat (tinned is fine if you can't get fresh)

Spring onions x3 (finely chopped)

A clove of garlic (crushed/finely chopped)

Small handful of fresh Parsley (chopped)

Zest of a lemon (finely grated)

Roughly 8-10 new potatoes, halved

1 red chili, chopped and de-seeded.

salt & pepper to season.

Method:

Boil the potatoes in salted water until soft. (no need to peel) Meanwhile, chop all other ingredients ready.

Once soft, drain the potatoes and set aside to cool. Once cooled, add the crab meat then mash together with salt and pepper. Once mashed through, add all other ingredients and mix well together. Divide into 6 individual patties and set aside to set in the fridge 4-6 hours or overnight is best.

To cook, heat a glug of oil in a hot pan and cook for roughly 4 minutes on each side or until golden brown and crispy. Turning once in the pan to allow a crisp crust to form.

Serve with bruschetta and a peppery rocket salad and plenty of lemons for squeezing.

Hope you enjoy

Rachael x