CRAB-STUFFED SHRIMP CASSEROLE

INGREDIENTS:

4 tablespoons butter, divided

2 shallots, diced (about ½ cup)

½ cup celery, minced

½ cup red bell pepper, minced

5 garlic cloves, grated

3 tablespoons dry sherry

2 cups buttery crackers (Clubhouse-style)

1 ½ teaspoons Old Bay Seasoning

½ teaspoon black pepper

⅓ cup mayonnaise

½ cup Parmesan cheese, grated

⅓ cup fresh flat leaf parsley, chopped, plus more for garnish

Zest of 1 lemon, plus wedges, for serving

1 pound crab meat (substitute chopped shrimp or scallops)

1 pound jumbo shrimp, butterflied (about 16-18)

Olive oil, salt and pepper

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 375℉. Melt 3 tablespoons of butter in a large skillet. Add shallot, celery, red pepper and garlic. Sauté for 4-5 minutes, until fragrant and tender. Add sherry to the pan (carefully, if you’re working over an open flame) and cook for another minute. Finally, add crushed cracker crumbs, Old Bay, black pepper, lemon zest and fresh parsley. Toss the ingredients together and remove from the heat to let the mixture cool a bit.
In a 2 ½ or 3 quart casserole dish, add your large shrimp, cleaned and butterflied. (To butterfly shrimp, cut along the outside of the shrimp to clean the vein, then keep cutting until you’ve sliced almost through the shrimp. Rinse the shrimp and dry very well.) Drizzle the shrimp in the casserole dish with a little olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Arrange evenly around the dish with the flat, butterfly side down and the tails up. Once the stuffing has cooled a bit, add your crab meat and mayonnaise into the stuffing mixture. Gently fold together without breaking up the crab …