A stunning gluten free recipe that makes crab go a long and very tasty way. It’s an amazing Mexican inspired combination of sweet seafood, citrus and fiery chilli. The filling may initially seem quite hot but it does balance out when combined with the salad, the sweet potatoes and pancakes. The filling will freeze well, though you may need to add a splash more orange juice when you're reheating it

Croutons:-

3 medium sized purple sweet potatoes (or orange if you can’t get them) in 1cm dice

a good glug of extra virgin olive oil

The filling:-

Extra virgin olive oil

2 large banana shallots, finely chopped

1 fennel bulb, finely chopped

4 large good quality tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped

½ a habanero chilli, very finely chopped

1 dstspn chopped oregano

1 dstspn chopped coriander leaves

1 dstspn chopped coriander stalks

1 tspn molé, or smoked paprika

3 tbspns freshly squeezed orange juice

3 tbspns tequila

250g white crabmeat

The pancakes:-

80g fine maize meal

60g plain flour

2 eggs

300mls milk

Pinch of cayenne

Olive oil

Salt

Salad dressing:-

1 tspn tequila

2 tbspns olive oil

1 tspn chives, finely chopped

To serve:-

Your favourite light salad leaves

• To make the sweet potato croutons, set your oven to 180C. When it’s up to temperature, put the sweet potato chunks into a baking tray, drizzle with extra virgin olive oil, and bake for 18 minutes. Switch off the oven and close the door. You’ll need the residual heat to keep both the sweet potato croutons and later on the pancakes warm

• Put the dressing ingredients in a jar, put the lid on, and shake vigourously

• Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a wok or large saucepan. Add the shallots, coriander stalks and fennel and cook over a medium heat till transparent - about 10 minutes. Add the chilli and oregano and season with a little smoked salt, and cook for another 5 minutes. Add the mole/smoked paprika, tequila, tomatoes, most of the coriander leaves and all the orange juice. Bring to a bubble, and cook until the liquid has reduced by a half. Add the crab to the vegetable mix, stirring it in gently. Take off heat and set aside

• To make the pancakes, sift the maize meal, flour, cayenne and a large pinch of salt together. Whisk the eggs and milk together, then add them into the flour to get a smooth pouring batter

• Heat a frying pan over a medium heat, brush it with olive oil and pour two tablespoons of the batter in, swirling it so it covers the base of the pan. Cook the pancake for 30 seconds then flip it over and turn the heat down a bit and cook the other side for a minute. Make 4 pancakes, keeping them warm on a plate in the still warm oven (50 degrees is fine)

• Once you have 4 pancakes, put each one on a serving plate, divide the crab filling between them, and roll them up as tightly as you can. Put a good handful of salad leaves and a few chunks of sweet potato croutons on each plate, sprinkle with the remainder of the coriander, and drizzle over the dressing