Spicy, Cheesy Crab Cakes With Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

Submitted by Cinizini

"These luscious cakes boast a combination of ricotta and jalepeno jack cheese, along with the bite of chive. Although it contains bold flavors, you can still taste the flavor of the crab. I have been making these in my family for years, serving them as appetizers at New Year's Eve parties, get togethers, or just for dinner as an entree with rice; they are often requested. I know this originally came from a magazine, I believe Midwest Living, but it's been copied so many times that I'm not sure exactly. I combed the crab cake recipes on this site but couldn't seem to find this one; hopefully this isn't a duplicate. Either canned or fresh crabmeat work well in these, and they are great with or without the sauce. The original recipe has you keeping them in the oven while you fry the rest of the crab cakes; I would not recommend this as it detracts from the flavor and texture of the freshly fried cake."

 

• Ready In: 30mins
• Ingredients: 9
• Yields: 12-16 cakes

ingredients

• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup ricotta cheese
• 3 tablespoons chives, snipped
• 3⁄4 cup fine seasoned dry bread crumb
• 1⁄4 cup vegetable oil, for frying
• 1⁄2 lb fresh crabmeat or 8 ounces canned crabmeat
• 1 cup monterey jack pepper cheese, shredded

• For Sauce

• 7 ounces roasted red peppers
• 1⁄3 cup mayonnaise

directions

1. If using, prepare the sauce by blending the mayo and roasted peppers in a food processor until smooth. Set aside.
2. Whisk eggs in a medium bowl. Stir in crab, both cheeses, chives, and a quarter cup of the breadcrumbs.
3. Pour the remaining half a cup of breadcrumbs into a shallow dish.
4. Line a large plate or baking sheet with waxed paper. Line a second large plate or baking sheet with paper towels (the latter for draining the finished crab cakes).
5. Form heaping tablespoons of the crab mixture into cakes of a quarter-inch thickness, coat each with the crumbs, and place on the waxed paper-lined plate or baking sheet.
6. In a large skillet over medium high heat, heat the vegetable oil until a droplet of water thrown in starts to sizzle or until bubbles start to gather around the tip of a wooden spoon placed in the oil, whatever method you choose.
7. Fry cakes, a few at a time, until golden on both sides, approximately three minutes total for each batch.
8. As cakes cook, remove them to the paper-towel lined baking sheet.
9. When all cakes are cooked, move to serving platter, arranging around a bowl of the sauce, if you like.
10. These are also really good served with a squirt of Kewpie mayonnaise (Japanese mayo; it's sweeter) mixed with a few drops of hot sauce; I like to use Tapatio.

Reviews

[I Cook Therefore I]

DH and I both loved these! You're right, it sounds like the cheese would over power the crab, but the crab flavor really stands up to the cheese. Thanks so much for posting!