If I decide to go for something more elaborate than a cheese board as a pre-meal snack, my one rule is that it must be assemblable in advance. There’s enough to think about ahead of a dinner party without having to fuss with more prep right when your guests arrive. These crab cake bites are not only delicious, and not only visually appealing, but they are a cinch to mix together and pop in the oven to serve. You absolutely can pan fry them to achieve a discernible crunch on the outside, but the addition of corn in this crab cake recipe adds enough texture as is that baking leaves nothing to be desired.
Form the crab cakes ahead of time and bake them off when you want them.
Corn & Piquillo Pepper Crab Cake Bites
Servings: 2 dozen
Ingredients
- 8 ounces crab meat
- 1 tablespoon mayonnaise
- 1 egg
- 1 cup cooked corn kernels
- ¼ cup jarred red peppers such as piquillo, chopped
- 1 garlic clove grated
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
- 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup bread crumbs such as panko (do not use seasoned bread crumbs)
- 4 ounces soft goat cheese
- 1 teaspoon paprika for garnish optional
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, add the garlic and lemon juice together and let them sit for a few minutes to take the sharpness off of the garlic. Stir in the zest, salt, then mayonnaise and egg. Next add the corn, cilantro and peppers and stir. Finally add the crab meat and bread crumbs, making sure the mixture is thoroughly combined, but trying not to break up the crab to much. Finally mix in the goat cheese. There should be some visible pieces of cheese – it does not need to be thoroughly combined, just evenly distributed.
- Form the crab into bite-sized balls, a little smaller than golf balls and place on a parchment lined baking sheet, or a baking sheet coated with oil. Refrigerate for an hour, or up to 6 hours.
- Preheat the oven to 350. Bake the crab cakes for 20-25 minutes, then remove and transfer to a serving platter. Serve sprinkled with a little paprika if desired.