Crab & Sweet Corn Chowder

Ingredients

• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 800 ml fish or chicken stock
• 500 g floury potatoes, peeled and diced into 2cm cubes
• 2 celery stalks, finely diced
• 0.5 tsp cayenne pepper
• salt and black pepper
• 1 onion, finely diced
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 200 ml double cream
• 30 g unsalted butter
• 3 corn cobs, kernels sliced off, or 250g tinned sweetcorn
• 4 spring onions, sliced, to serve
• 300 g white crab meat, fresh or tinned, drained
• Crusty sourdough bread, to serve
• Natural yoghurt, to serve
• Fresh parsley, to serve

Method

1. Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Fry the onion and celery until soft and translucent, about 6 minutes. Stir in the garlic, smoked paprika and cayenne and cook for 1 minute until fragrant.
2. Tip in the potato cubes and pour over the stock. Bring to the boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes, until the potatoes give easily to a knife tip.
3. Add the sweetcorn kernels and cook for a further 5 minutes, until the kernels are bright and tender.
4. Using a potato masher or the back of a spoon, roughly mash about a quarter of the soup against the side of the pan to thicken it, keeping plenty of chunks for texture.
5. Pour in the double cream and bring back to a gentle simmer. Season generously with salt and black pepper — chowder needs more than you think.
6. Fold the crab meat through and let it warm in the residual heat for 2 minutes — any longer and it goes stringy.
7. Ladle into deep bowls, scatter generously with sliced spring onions and finish with a hard crack of black pepper.