Risotto Crab Cakes

Cuisine: American

Inspiration: Earlier this week, we had a nice dinner of crab and shrimp risotto with some sauteed zucchini and a bottle of rose. With some leftover risotto and 4 oz of extra crabmeat in the refrigerator, it sounded fun to combine the two for a different take on a crab cake. Once I got the idea in my head, I had to try it out!

What we Loved: If I see a crab cake on a menu somewhere, I can almost guarantee that I’ll order it. One of my favorite restaurants in town is a Southwestern place that serves amazing blue cornmeal-crusted crab cakes with a pumpkin seed sauce that I can just never pass up. And risotto is another food that is very near the top of my list of the best things in life. So I knew that I would love the flavor combination of this meal, and I did! I was worried about how well the cakes would hold together when I was breading them and cooking them, but I had absolutely no problem with that. The risotto provided a nice, creamy base that held everything together. The end result was a creamy seafood cake with a really crispy crust. A little different, but really delicious.

Helpful Hints: I think that these would be even better with some more ingredients added to the mixture. Some finely diced roasted red peppers and a healthy bunch of chopped cilantro would have combined really well with the seafood risotto that I was using, but the great thing about this recipe is that you can adjust the add-ins based upon your preferences and based upon what kind of leftover risotto you’re using.

Similar Recipes: crab cakes, salmon cakes

Risotto Crab Cakes
Source: Original Recipe

Since this recipe uses leftovers, the amounts are not very specific. You can adjust everything to how much leftover risotto that you have on hand. I ended up being able to make five fairly large risotto cakes with what I had.

Leftover risotto, chilled in the refrigerator (mine was a crab and shrimp risotto recipe that I got from Annie’s Eats, with the parsley replaced with cilantro)
4 oz lump crabmeat (you can use more, if desired, based on how much leftover risotto you have)
Kosher salt and black pepper
1/4 cup flour
1 egg, beaten
3/4 cup panko breadcrumbs, more if necessary
Extra virgin olive oil

1. Gently mix together the leftover risotto and the crab meat. Season with salt and pepper.

2. Place the flour in a shallow bowl. Place the egg in a second bowl, and the panko breadcrumbs in a third bowl.

3. Form the risotto mixture into patties. Dip the patties in the flour, then the egg, and then the breadcrumbs. Place the patties on a plate or in a baking dish, and chill covered in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.

4. Heat a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil in a large saute pan, just enough to coat the bottom of the pan. Add the risotto cakes, and cook until they are crispy, approximately 5-8 minutes per side. Add more oil if necessary, and cook with a lid on the pan to ensure that the crab cakes heat through.

Seafood Lasagna

Cuisine: Italian

Inspiration: I found this recipe on Confections of a Foodie Bride about a month ago, and it’s one of those recipes that has stuck in the back of my head ever since. I’ve been craving and making a lot of seafood lately, and a seafood lasagna using shrimp, crab, and scallops, which are my three favorite seafood variations, sounded so delicious to me. B’s mom came up for a night over the weekend, so I thought that it was the perfect excuse to make this fancy supper, along with some appetizers and a caprese salad.

What we Loved: The seafood flavor in this meal is incredible. If you don’t like seafood, you definitely wouldn’t like this dish, because the flavor is very pronounced. We love seafood, though, so we thought that it was perfect. I loved that the recipe used a lot of Parmesan, because it gave the cheesy portions of the meal a really sharp flavor, and I also loved that there wasn’t a tremendous amount of sauce in the final product. There are four cups of bechamel sauce added to the lasagna, but when you cut the cooked lasagna and serve it, it’s not very saucy and it cuts into pretty portions. The top of the lasagna also gets nice and crispy brown in the oven, which added a great, browned cheese flavor. Really, I loved everything about this recipe. It was delicious.

Helpful Hints: This dish can easily be made ahead of time, which is one of the reasons that I thought it would be great for company. I made the lasagna in the afternoon, and then I just put it in the fridge until we were ready to make it in the evening. There’s nothing worse than being busy in the kitchen when people are over, so I’m always happy to find a good recipe that can be made beforehand. I bought the more-expensive lump crabmeat for this dish, but because there’s so much going on with all of the different flavors, I think that you could get away with buying the cheaper claw meat and it would be just fine.

Other Italian Recipes: Angel hair pasta with sundried tomatoes and goat cheese

Seafood Lasagna

Source: Confections of a Foodie Bride

I made a few alterations to the recipe (mostly to the seafood amounts), but I really didn’t change a whole lot. Here is the recipe as I made it.

Extra virgin olive oil
8 oz lump crabmeat
1/2 lb bay scallops
1 lb jumbo shrimp, peeled, deveined, and tails removed
6 tablespoons buter
6 tablespoons flour
4 cups milk
8 oz Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, grated and divided
Kosher salt and ground white pepper
10 oz frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed of excess water
15 oz ricotta cheese
1 egg
8 oz Mozzarella cheese, grated
1/2-3/4 lb lasagna noodles (I used no boil noodles)

1. Add the crabmeat to a large bowl. Heat a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil in a pan. Place the scallops into the pan, and cook  for 2-3 minutes or until just cooked through. Pour the scallops into the bowl with the crabmeat. Add the shrimp to the pan, and cook for 2-3 minutes or until just cooked through. Add the shrimp to the bowl, season with salt and pepper, and mix.

2. Melt the butter in a sauce pan over medium heat. Whisk in the flour, and cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring constantly. Add the milk 1 cup at a time, whisking until smooth after each addition. When all the milk is added, cook for an additional 5-10 minutes until the sauce is thickened, stirring occasionally so that the mixture doesn’t scorch. Remove the pan from the heat, and whisk in 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

3. Mix the spinach, 1/2 cup Parmesan, ricotta, egg, all of the mozzarella, salt, pepper, and 1 cup of the prepared white sauce in a large bowl.

4. Spread 1 cup of the white sauce in the bottom of a 9×13 pan. Arrange a layer of lasagna noodles in the pan, and spread with half of the ricotta mixture. Top with 1/2 cup white sauce.

5. Arrange a second layer of lasagna noodles in the pan. Add all of the seafood mixture, spreading to distribute evenly. Sprinkle half of the remaining Parmesan cheese over the seafood, and top with 1/2 cup white sauce.

6. Arrange a third layer of lasagna noodles in the pan. Spread with the remaining ricotta mixture, and top with 1/2 cup white sauce.

7. Arrange a final layer of lasagna noodles in the pan. Top with the remaining white sauce, and sprinkle with the remaining Parmesan cheese.

8. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 50 minutes to 1 hour, or until brown and bubbly. Remove from the oven and let sit for 15 minutes before cutting.

Crab Cakes

Crab cakes are one of my favorite seafood meals to eat. I love, love, love them. But…..as much as I’m willing to eat most foods, I have a severe aversion to mayonnaise. I’m talking really servere. *shudder.* Needless to say, I like my crab cakes without it, and I was so happy to run across this recipe. Not only because I was easily able to replace the mayonnaise (Greek yogurt worked great!), but because I don’t think a good crab cake recipe should have a cup of mayonnaise in it, anyway. This one focuses on the crab, as I think a crab cake recipe should, and it’s a fresh, crispy, all-around awesome and super healthy recipe.

Crab Cakes with Avocado Puree
Adapted from: Emeril Legasse

I made a million changes to the recipe as it’s stated on the above webpage (omitting/changing the salsas and presentation, leaving out butter and switching around ingredients, etc.). Here’s the recipe as I used it, scaled down to serve 2.

Extra virgin olive oil, to saute
1/2 cup chopped Vidalia onion
1 1/2 tablespoons Greek yogurt
3/4 tablespoon fresh lemon juice 
3/4 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1/2 tablespoon chopped green onions (green part only)
1 teaspoon dried chives
1/2 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley leaves
1/8 teaspoon salt 
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 
sprinkle of cayenne
1/2 pound lump crabmeat, picked over for shells and cartilage 
3 tablespoons fine bread crumbs
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 large egg
2 tablespoons milk 
3/4-1 cup panko (Japanese bread crumbs)
1 recipe avocado puree (recipe follows)
A handful of Parmesan cheese, freshly grated

1. Spray a Pyrex dish with non-stick spray and set aside.  

2. Heat some extra virgin olive oil in a medium skillet and add the onions. Cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Set aside to cool.

3. Meanwhile, combine the Greek yogurt, lemon juice, extra virgin olive oil, green onions, chives, and parsley in a bowl and mix until well blended. Add the salt, pepper, and cayenne and mix to blend. Add the sauteed onions, crabmeat, and bread crumbs and fold gently to mix, being careful not to break up the lumps.

4. Form the crabmeat mixture into 4 (2 1/2 to 3-inch) round cakes, about 2 1/2 ounces each, and pack gently but firmly. Place in the prepared Pyrex dish, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate until well chilled, approximately one hour.

5. Place the flour in a small shallow dish. In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg and the milk to make an egg wash. Place the panko in a third shallow dish. Dredge each crab cake in the flour, then in the egg wash, and then the panko crumbs, shaking to remove any excess breading. (Note that the crab cake mixture will be slightly wet and should be handled carefully. If the crab cakes become too loose during the breading, they can be refrigerated again until firm.) Set aside.

6. Heat some extra virgin olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Panfry the crab cakes until golden brown, about 5 minutes per side. Add more oil as needed.

7. To serve, arrange 2 crab cakes on a plat.  Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and spoon the avocado puree around the crab cakes.

Avocado Puree
Source: Adapted from Emeril Legasse

1 ripe avocado, diced
2/3 cup Greek yogurt
1/2 cup cilantro leaves
1 1/2 tablespoons orange juice
1/2 small lime, juiced
1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon white pepper
A dash of hot sauce

1. Combine all ingredients in a food processor and process until smooth.