Garlic Roasted Crab

This recipe is a winter time favorite on the US West Coast, when the Dungeness crabs are readily available.  This is an extremely easy and fast recipe that results in a great meal for a large group or even just for one.  The following recipe is for 4 people and you can easily adjust as the portions are 1 crab per person.

Ingredients:

  • 4 Dungeness crabs
  • 1 cup (2 sticks) of butter
  • 1 cup of olive oil
  • 2 lemons
  • 2 heads of garlic
  • 1 bunch of parsley
  • Sea salt

Instructions:

  1. Preheat the oven to 350F
  2. Peel the garlic and lightly smash each clove, so it can better release its flavor
  3. Melt the butter and olive oil in a small sauce pan, add a couple of pinches of seal salt and the garlic, keep warm
  4. Put the (cracked, cleaned, and cooked) crab into a deep pan, add the butter and oil mixture
  5. Place the crab into the oven for 7 minutes, remove and turn over the crab pieces and spoon the oil mixture over the pieces, place the crab back into the oven to finish for the final 7 minutes
  6. Coarsely chop some parsley and cut lemons into halves
  7. Remove the crab from the oven, squeeze the lemon all over the crab pieces and into the oil mixture, and liberally sprinkle the parsley over the crab

Serving Suggestions:

Place crab into a large bowl for each person along with some of the oil mixture.  Generally, the crab is well cracked and there’s nothing needed to enjoy, except for fingers.  Cloth napkins are best for best enjoy and cleanup along with one or more large bowls on the table for discarding the crab shells during the meal.

Best pairings are a simple leafy green salad like a Caesar along with fresh crusty baguette bread for dipping into the oil mixture.  Enjoy!

 

Garlic roasted crab