This is an elegant but simple dinner party salad. It doesn’t need a dressing, but it could be served with the honey lemon or balsamic dressing if you like.
Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/gas mark 6.
Grate the Parmesan and place it on a baking tray in heaped mounds. Bake for 7 minutes, until it’s golden brown and looks like crackers. Remove from the tray while still warm and cool on a wire rack.
Cut four thin slices from the middle of the fennel
bulb.
Put the leftover fennel in a small pan, cover with water
and simmer for 20 minutes. Drain and purée the fennel in a blender with 2 tablespoons of the crème fraîche. Season with salt and a squeeze of pink grapefruit juice from a quarter segment of the grapefruit.
Cut four segments from the remaining pink grapefruit,
removing the pith. Set aside.
Mix the crab meat with the remaining 2 tablespoons of
crème fraîche in a small bowl and chill for 1 hour or until ready to use.
Divide the fennel purée between four small jars and
top with the salad leaves. Add the segmented pink grapefruit, spoon over the crab and the roasted
fennel. Top with the Parmesan crisps and a slice of raw fennel.