Crab En Croute

What a hot pocket should be

The dungeness crab season is way too short. Blink and you miss it and all the tasty, meaty goodness that it entails. So we were stoked to see some fresh crabs at our fish monger when we picked up oysters for our dressing before Thanksgiving. We served this as an appetizer, but it’d make a nice dinner for two or three paired with a salad.

Crab En Croute

• 2 1/2 cups dungeness crab meat
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp horseradish sauce
• juice from half a lemon
• 1/2 cup drained and chopped artichoke hearts
• salt/pepper to taste
• 2 tbsp butter
• 1 small bunch of spinach, torn in bite-size leaves
• 1/2 medium onion, diced
• 2 sheets puff pastry
• 1 egg yolk whisked with about a teaspoon of cream

Mix crab meat, olive oil, horseradish sauce, lemon juice and artichoke hearts together. Season to taste. In a large saute pan, melt butter and saute onions until tender. Wilt spinach, stirring often. Turn off heat and stir in crab mix, stirring to incorporate. Roll out two sheets of puff pastry together in a 12- to 15-inch rectangle. Pour crab mix on top and smooth out. Leave about an inch border all around. Roll up, tucking ends in as you go. Place seam side down on a baking pan. Brush the egg mixture over the pastry using a pastry brush. Bake at 400 until golden, about 25 minutes.