Fine Lobster recommends Chef Bernard’s Asian Crab Risotto. It is an amazing blend of different flavors from around the world including green curry, plum wine, cilantro, parsley, parmesan and mascarpone! Try it with King crab leg meat or Maine lobster tail meat!
Enjoy King crab legs and fresh herbs folded into the most flaky pastry crust you’ll ever make. This recipe is perfect for any meal, will be a hit for brunches or special occasions, and can be frozen for up to a week.
We’ve included a preparation short cut, although can’t encourage you enough to make your own pastry and use the freshest ingredients you can find.
Pastry Ingredients:
1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
¾ stick (6 tbsps) cold unsalted butter cut into ½ inch cubes
2 tbsps cold vegetable shortening
¼ tspn salt
3 to 4 tbsps ice water
(Can substitute with store-bough frozen, premade deep-dish pastry crust)
Filling Ingredients:
1 lb of King crab legs, thawed if frozen
3 large eggs
1 ½ cups heavy cream (can substitute with half and half)
2 tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
½ cup red pepper, chopped
½ cup spinach, chopped
2 tbsps fresh chives, finely chopped
2 tbsps fresh parsley, finely chopped
2 tbsps fresh cilantro, finely chopped
½ tspn seafood seasoning, such as Old Bay Seasoning
½ tspn salt
¼ tspn black pepper
1/8 tspn freshly grated nutmeg
½ cup coarsely grated Monterey Jack cheese
½ cup coarsely grated Swiss cheese
Pastry:
Blend together flour, butter, shortening and salt in a bowl with your fingertips or a pastry blender (or pulse in a food processor) just until most of mixture resembles coarse meal with some roughly pea-size butter lumps. Drizzle evenly with 3 tablespoons ice water and gently stir with a fork (or pulse in processor) until incorporated.
Squeeze a small handful: If it doesn’t hold together, add more ice water, ½ tablespoon at a time, stirring (or pulsing) until just incorporated, then test again. (Do not overwork mixture, or pastry will be tough.)
Turn out mixture onto a work surface and divide into 4 portions. With heel of your hand, smear each portion once or twice in a forward motion to help distribute fat. Gather dough together with scraper and press into a ball, then flatten into a 4-inch disk. Chill dough, wrapped in plastic wrap, until firm, at least 1 hour.
Roll out dough into a 12 inch round on a lightly floured surface with a floured rolling pin and fit into 9 inch glass or ceramic deep-dish pie plate. Trim excess dough, leaving a 1/2-inch overhang, then fold overhang under pastry and press against rim of pie plate to reinforce edge. Decoratively crimp edge and lightly prick bottom and side of shell with a fork. Chill until firm, about 30 minutes.
Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 375°F.
Line shell with foil and fill with pie weights (or raw rice). Bake until pastry is pale golden along rim and set underneath foil, about 20 minutes. Carefully remove foil and weights and bake shell until bottom and side are pale golden, about 10 minutes more. Cool completely in pie plate on a rack, about 20 minutes.
Filling:
Hack through the crab leg shells with a large heavy knife and cut meat into ½ inch pieces. Discard shells.
Heat olive oil in small heavy bottom skillet and sauté onion and garlic till translucent, adding in red pepper and spinach for the last minute, stirring regularly.
In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs, cream, herbs, seafood seasoning, salt, pepper, and nutmeg.
On the bottom of the crust, first place the crab meat and then over that evenly distribute the onion and vegetable mixture. The final step is mix together the egg and herb mixture with the cheeses, the pour into the crust over the crab.
Bake until filling puffs and is no longer wobbly in center when quiche is gently shaken, 50 to 60 minutes. Cool in pie plate on rack 15 minutes.
If freezing, simply reheat at 350°F for up to 25 minutes.
