Lemony Garlic Baked Dungeness Crab

This lemony garlic baked crab is an Andronico family staple! Every time my mom makes it, my sisters and I congregate around the oven waiting for it to come out because it’s off-the-charts-delicious. It’s buttery, garlicy, lemony and herby...all the good things in life. The best part is that it could not be easier to make — it takes 20 minutes start to finish and it’s all done in one pan. Definitely ideal for my current dishwasher-less kitchen!

If you’re like me, you’ve been brainstorming what to cook for Valentine’s Day and this dish is PERFECT. One thing I’ll warn you about — it’s definitelyyy garlic-forward and not something you’ll look graceful eating but it couldn’t be more of a show-stopper. Whether you’re spending Valentine’s Day with a significant other, friends, family, or solo, this baked crab is THE perfect meal.

I serve it with toasted pieces of crusty bread to sop up all of the delicious pan juices which I say is “optional” but it’s really not…trust me! If you really want to do it the Andronico family way, serve it alongside a big caesar salad.

Enjoy and let me know if you end up trying this one — it’s definitely a family favorite!

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS

• 6 Tbsp olive oil, plus additional for toasting bread

• 6 Tbsp salted butter

• Crusty bread, torn into large pieces (optional but highly recommended!)

• Kosher salt

• 6 large garlic cloves, thinly sliced or minced

• 1/2 of a jalapeño, minced

• 2 large cooked Dungeness crabs (~3 lbs total), cracked*

• 1 bunch flat leaf parsley, minced

• 5 large lemons (4 juiced and 1 cut into wedges for serving)

• Flakey sea salt, such as Maldon

METHOD

1. Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F.

2. Add the olive oil and butter to a large roasting pan and transfer to the oven until the butter has melted and is bubbling, 4-5 minutes.

3. While the butter and olive oil are in the oven, transfer the torn pieces of bread to a sheet tray and drizzle with olive oil and a pinch of kosher salt. Transfer to the oven and cook for 8-10 minutes, or until the edges of the bread are golden brown.

4. Remove the melted butter and olive oil mixture from the oven and add in the garlic, jalapeño and crab. Toss to coat the crab in the garlic/jalapeño/butter/olive oil mixture and put it back in the oven to cook for 6 minutes.

5. Remove the crab from the oven and toss with the minced parsley and lemon juice from four of the lemons directly in the pan.

6. Transfer the hot crab to a serving platter, making sure to scrape off all of the buttery, garlicky, herby, lemony goodness from the pan.

7. Serve the crab with flakey salt sprinkled on top, lemon wedges from the remaining lemon and the toasted bread to sop up all of that pan sauce. I also highly recommend serving a caesar salad on the side!

NOTES

• During crab season, you’ll likely find it whole + cooked at your local butcher or grocery store. Just ask your butcher to crack the crab for you. They will essentially butcher the cooked crab — breaking off the legs, crushing the shell to expose some of the meat and and cutting the body into pieces so it’s easier to eat. Getting the crab cracked makes it so much easier to eat and ensures that all of the delicious pan sauce seeps into the crab as it cooks.

• If you’re scaling this recipe down to 1 crab for two people, I recommend keeping the measurements of everything else the same so that you have a good amount of pan sauce to dip your bread in.