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Ingredients
- 170 g ready-to-eat cooked crab meat drained; checked carefully for shell
113 g unsalted butter softened
2 scallions washed, dried and finely minced- ½ tsp commercially prepared preserved lemon peel ready to eat; flesh discarded, peel finely minced
- 28 g roasted tomatoes fully cooked, ready to eat, drained and finely minced
- 1 pinch Espelette pepper
salt only if needed after tasting
ground black pepper to taste
Equipment
Equipment images are illustrative. Exact products may vary.
Instructions
- Drain the cooked crab and check carefully for small shell fragments. Keep refrigerated while preparing the butter. Wash and dry the scallions and mince finely.
- Use ready-to-eat commercially prepared preserved lemon, following its label. Remove the flesh, mince the peel finely and measure. Finely mince the ready-to-eat roasted tomatoes after draining.
- Mix the softened butter with the scallions, lemon peel, tomatoes and Espelette. Fold in the cooked crab gently, then season with black pepper and salt only if needed.
- Cover and refrigerate promptly at 40°F or below. Use within 2 days, or sooner if any component’s label requires it. Freeze promptly if keeping longer; thaw in the refrigerator.
- For serving, warm only the amount needed in a small saucepan, stirring gently, until the crab topping reaches 165°F. Spoon over a separately cooked dish and serve promptly. Discard any portion left at room temperature for more than 2 hours.
Notes
The crab is already cooked; this is a topping component rather than a complete halibut recipe.
Use a commercial ready-to-eat preserved lemon product, not an unvalidated homemade preserve.
This mixture is perishable despite its butter content.
The recipe control represents one small batch, without a fixed topping count.
