By Alon Argüello & Mary Parks & | 1 hour

 

Inspired by the classic Rhode Island “stuffies” or stuffed clams, this dish uses breadcrumbs, smokey sausage, and green crabs. Green crab roe is sautéd with alliums and sherry, mixed in with green crab broth and classic stuffed clam ingredients, and served in the upper half of a crab shell. This bite-sized twist on a New England Classic is the perfect fall appetizer and can be frozen in the shell for up to two months. 

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INGREDIENTS

  • 12 female green crabs

    * processed into 1 cup of stock, ¼ cup of roe, and crab shells 

  • ¼ cup of unsalted butter

  • 1 cup of smokey sausage (ideally chouriço)

  • ½ onion, diced

  • 3 cloves of garlic, crushed 

  • 3 cups of stale bread, ripped up & crumbled 

  • 1 tsp fresh hot pepper, sliced 

  • 6 stalks of green onion, sliced 

  • optional: sherry 

  • ½ tsp paprika

  • ½ tsp red pepper flakes

  • ½ tsp marjoram 

  • ½ tsp black pepper

  • 2 sprigs of fresh thyme 

  • 1 lemon, sliced 


DIRECTIONS

  1. Add 8 cups of boiling water and some salt to a stock pot and bring to a boil. Thoroughly rinse female green crabs and steam or boil for 8 minutes or until all of the crabs have turned bright red. 

  2. Keeping the stock pot water on the stove, remove the green crabs and allow them to cool on a drying rack until cool to touch. 

  3. Preheat oven to 400ºF

  4. Shuck roe from the female crabs and rinse set aside the top of the crab shells/ carapace. You’ll want to make sure the “mouth parts” are no longer attached to the carapace. 

    * See this tutorial to learn how to shuck green crab roe

  5. Add the leftover shells back into the stock pot. Allow the stock to keep cooking. 

  6. Add roe and onions to a skillet on medium heat with butter and sauté until onions are translucent. Add sherry to the skillet and cook until sherry is reduced but the mixture is still buttery. 

  7. Strain your stock into a bowl using a fine mesh strainer. 

  8. Add cooked sausage and spices to the skillet then slowly crumble stale bread into the mixture. If you’re using bread that doesn’t exactly “crumble” try blitzing it in the food processor instead then adding to the mixture. 

  9. Add stock to the breadcrumb mixture, stir, and turn off the heat once the breadcrumbs absorb the stock. 

  10. Scoop the stuffing into the tops of your crab shells and bake for 10-15 minutes. 

  11. Serve with lemon wedges and enjoy! 

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