Warm Crab Pie Recipe
A dazzling Warm Crab Pie Recipe to wow your party guests this year!
Some things never change. I love crabmeat… Always have, always will.
When I was a little girl, I thought The Red Lobster was the fanciest restaurant on the planet. I mean, only a truly elegant restaurant would offer grown-ups special bibs so their clothes wouldn’t get dirty!
Every chance I got, I would plead with my parents to go there. Birthdays were a given. I would gaze in wonder at the lobsters swimming in the tanks, waiting to become someone’s dinner.
I wasn’t interested in eating something that was so alive only moments before it arrived on my plate. I wanted my dinner dead long before I got it.
Instead I ordered snow crab legs and an extra basket of garlic cheese biscuits. Then would tremble with excitement at the thought of my heaping plate of claws and the extra special tools with which to eat them.
Well a lot has changed since then. One, I have discovered that the Red Lobster is not the fanciest restaurant on the planet, and that plastic bibs and shell pliers do not equal high-class.
I have also realized it is much better to eat food that is very recently dead. (Take a moment to judge me if you so desire.)
Yet, I’m still gaga over crabmeat, and believe it to be one of the most sweet, tender, succulent proteins around.
Crab “fancies up” just about everything it graces. Even lowly party dip with crackers is taken to new heights by the addition of crab. This Warm Crab Pie Recipe is a wonderful small meal, first-course, or party dish with understated elegance.
Buttery homemade pastry filled with glorious lump crabmeat, tarragon and spice… No shelling necessary!
Consider serving this Warm Crab Pie Recipe for your New Year’s Eve party this year. The fresh hot herby crabmeat and homemade pastry shell are a show-stopper at any event.
Warm Crab Pie Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 3/4 teaspoon salt divided
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter, cold and cut into cubes (1 1/2 sticks)
- 4-6 tablespoons ice cold water
- 2/3 cup heavy cream
- 2 large eggs
- 8 ounces crab meat, cooked and drained
- 1 1/2 tablespoons fresh chopped tarragon
- 1 small shallot grated
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Instructions
- For the homemade puff pastry crust: Combine the flour and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a food processor. Pulse a few times. Add the cold butter and pulse until the bits of butter are the size of peas. Add the cold water 1 tablespoon at a time, pulsing in between, until the dough comes together. It will be a bit lumpy.
- Shape the dough into a rectangle, then wrap it in plastic and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
- Place the dough on a floured work surface and roll out to a 8x20-inch rectangle. Trim the rough edges. Then cut down the center lengthwise. Cut each strip into 5 pieces, creating ten 4-inch squares of dough. Fold each square and place them into muffin tins. Press the centers down to the bottom and press the folds into the sides. Prick the bottoms of the shells several times with a fork. Bake the shells for 15 minutes. Then cool a little.
- In the meantime, combine the cream and eggs in a medium sized bowl. Whisk until smooth. Then stir in the crabmeat, tarragon, shallot, nutmeg, cayenne pepper, and remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt.
- Scoop the crab mixture into each shell evenly. Bake for 15-20 minutes until the filling is puffed and the edges are golden. Serve warm.
This is so funny because I recently blogged about Red Lobster not being what it use to be:
http://nana-splace.blogspot.com/2010/12/it-probably-was-our-last-time.html
But I love crab too. The best place I've ever visited for crab is the Crab Shanty in Ellicot City, MD. I could eat there daily if I lived close by. I will definitely make your warm crab tartlets. Love your blog.
Those tartlets make great party finger food. I love the addition of fresh tarragon.
Angie
Lovely appetizer. I love the combination of crab and fresh tarragon!
my hubby is sitting next to me saying "oooh that looks good!" and he is so right! I love that you use crab meat in tartlettes…I love savory tartlettes and these look so chic!
This looks absolutely divine! I loooooove crab meat, too, and used to think Red Lobster was class. Then I visited home and was sadly disappointed. I love this creative recipe!! Will have to try this out in 2011 for sure! Nice to meet you fellow Sommer J ;-)
Your tartlets look delicious. If we were hosting a New Year's party, I would totally make these. But we're not. So I will have to bookmark them for a later day! Your Red Lobster story was cute. :)
Well we'll be skiing for New Years but you best bet that these will be making an appearance at some dinner party we'll have! I LOVE crab.. and I used to love Red Lobster too :) Their biscuits are soo good.
I am also gaga over crab meat… These look precious!
I am going to a party about 3 hours away… do you think the filling would travel okay, if i made the pastry and baked when I arrived?
Sommer, these crab tartlets look very accessible with this easy recipe. Hope you had a great holiday!
Nisrine
I also like crab and the tartlets would be a hit at my New Years Eve party. Recipe will be bookmarked. Thanks for sharing!
I love the free-form shape of your tartlets. Very pretty. Oh I bet this would be perfect on New Year's especially with some bubbly!
Happy Holidays Sommer!
LL
These really look luscious and I need recipes for warm appetizers. This has just moved to my must try list. I hope you are having a great day. Blessings…Mary
I'm with you on the crab meat. Wish we could have it weekly!! Those tarts look fantastic. Now the best part is that we have a seafood feast on New Year's Eve. Just the two of us and seafood and a bottle of Prosecco. These may just have to show up :-)
I agree, crab is pretty special. We used to have a restaurant here that served all you could eat legs for Sunday brunch. I ate them like a starved wild animal. These tarts look wonderful and I'm saving the recipe.
Hey Sommer – hope you had a beautiful Christmas! These tarts look lovely! I've never done anything dainty and poncy with crab before – just chillied or curried crab or boiled and eaten caveman(woman?) like with some buttery, lemony dip LOL
Maybe I will do this for New Year's after all!!
I love crab meat too. Those tartlets look really tempting!
First time I tried crab meat was in the US and i loved it ever since. These little treats are great idea for a party.
I want one or two or three! Crab is my all time favorite, too and I used to eat at Red Lobster as often as I could when I was in college (my hometown did not have one) – I loved the crab stuffed shrimp. You made your dough, too. So delicious!