Barbecue Crayfish and Cockle Linguine

Crayfish

2 x Crayfish Tails (prepare by cutting down the back of the tail and opening this up to expose flesh, remove the intestine)crayfish

Compound Butter

250gm of Unsalted Butter
1 ½ tsp Sea Salt
½ tsp finely chopped thyme
½ tsp finely chopped Basil
¼ tsp Garlic Powder
Cracked Pepper

Cockles & Sauce

2 tbsp Unsalted Butter
300ml Double Cream
Sea salt
Cracked Black Pepper
Olive Oil
½ cup Onions finely diced
5 Garlic Cloves finely diced
2 Bay leaves
½ tsp finely chopped Thyme
1 cup of good White Wine
Pinch sweet paprika
½ kg bag of Cockles
Slice of lemon
250 grams Linguine pasta or Konjac noodles if wanting a low carb option.

Prepare Crayfish

1. Prepare your pit of choice by heating your BBQ to a medium/high heat (away from the direct heat).

2. Cover the cray flesh with the compound butter and place the shell down on the BBQ.

3. Using a digital thermometer, cook until the thickest internal part reaches 60°C (140°F) before flipping the meat side down to achieve grill marks, roughly one minute. Your finishing internal temperature must be 63°C (145.4°F). Remove from the BBQ and set aside to cool until a comfortable temperature to handle.

4. Once cool scoop the meat out and cut it into chunks and stir through Crayfish Sauce if ready to serve.

Compound Butter

1. Let 250gms of unsalted butter sit out on the bench at room temperature for 2 hours to soften.

2. In a medium bowl, add the butter, sea salt, fresh thyme (stalks removed and finely chopped), basil, garlic powder and black pepper together, mixing until thoroughly combined.

3. Lay out a large piece of glad wrap and spoon the compound butter into the middle before folding over one edge and rolling into a cylinder by twisting both edges tight to close. Roll your hands over the butter to make a thick cylinder shape around 100 mm long. Place in the freezer for half an hour to firm up.

Cockles

1. In a Cast Iron Camp Oven over medium heat, add a decent splash of oil and a large knob of unsalted butter until fully melted. Add 1/2 cup of finely diced red onions and cook for 5 minutes or until softened.

2. Add the finely chopped garlic, bay leaves and fresh thyme cooking for a further 5 minutes keeping a close eye on the pan as it can burn easily so keep stirring.

3. Add the white wine and allow to cook off for 5 minutes before adding the pre-rinsed live cockles (discard any open shells) and close the camp oven lid. Check after 5 minutes and take out the cockles that have opened up and set aside in a bowl.

4. Keep cooking another 5 minutes and put any open cockles into the bowl, discarding any that did not open. Note: (If the next step is going to be delayed, store the cockles on the fridge until ready to reheat.

Sauce

1. Add ½ cup of chicken stock to the cockle cooking liquid and reduce for 10 minutes over a medium heat.

2. Remove the bay leaves and reduce the heat to low and add 250mls of double cream, 2 tbsp of cream cheese and a pinch of sweet paprika. Reduce for 10 minutes whilst stirring. Add a twist of ground pepper to taste. You won't need to add salt as the cockle cooking liquid will add plenty of salt to the sauce. Use the last 50ml of double cream to thin sauce if needed.

3. Cook the pasta or konjac noodles following the cooking instructions on the packet, then strain and set aside while the sauce is reducing.

4. Cut the cooked crayfish into chunks and add to the sauce along with the cooked cockles on the top. Cover for 5 minutes to reheat the crayfish (if not just cooked) and cockles.

5. Remove the cockles and set them aside. Stir the cooked pasta through the sauce and add to a serving plate. Place the cockles around the plate and serve with finely sliced chillis and chives along with a slice of lemon.