Pizza Part Elf: Crab Fantasy Pizza

Finally! I have been working on this recipe since last year, but it never seemed to be quite what I wanted it to be. I made it several times, adding this, taking away that. Well, last month Phil and I went to Red Lobster with a gift card Caitlin had given us for Christmas. We always go once a year, during their Lobsterfest for the specials. When we went last month, we ordered the appetizer lobster pizza, and it was just heavenly. I determined that I was going to recreate that pizza at home.

But have you seen the price of lobster?? ;) Um, yuh. That’s out for a while, unless I can get some on sale (maybe during the summer?), and I’ll make sure I get 2 meals out of it somehow. But that got me to thinking of my Crab Fantasy Pizza that I’ve been working on. I decided to take some of what I already tried on it, add fresh tomatoes and fresh basil like Red Lobster uses on their lobster pizza, and add a light savory cream sauce (Red Lobster doesn’t have that on their pizza). It was a winner! I knew with the first bite that finally, my Crab Fantasy Pizza was ready to post.

So, let’s get cooking!

First you’ll want to prepare your veggies and herb. Peel and mince the garlic (I use my garlic press when it’s time to add the garlic), and dice the shallot very finely. You want 2 Tbl of the diced shallot.

Dice the Roma tomatoes fairly small.

Slice the fresh basil leaves into strips. If they’re very long, you can cut the strips in half. If they’re so small like some of mine were, just leave them be.

For the crab, I buy the canned (in the fish/shellfish refrigerated section) lump when it’s on sale. You don’t need to do anything to it; it’s in small enough pieces already. This crab meat is expensive, but I use ½ of it for one meal and half for another, and like I said, I get it when it’s on sale.

Now, for the savory cream sauce: in a medium saucepan, sauté the shallots and garlic in the butter for about 3 minutes over medium heat. Add the flour and stir with a whisk to make the roux. When bubbly, add the light cream or half & half and whisk thoroughly, scraping down outer edges of the saucepan. Add the salt and black pepper. Continue to cook and whisk until thickened, about 5-8 minutes or so. Remove from heat.

Press the pizza dough onto a greased sheet pan (or pizza pan). Spread the cream sauce evenly onto the dough, and then sprinkle on the mozzarella.

Evenly distribute the diced Roma tomatoes and the fresh basil.

Lastly, add the crab meat to the pizza. When done, make sure to lick your fingers before you wash them. ;)

Bake in a preheated 425° oven for 18 minutes. The bottom of the pizza crust should be a lovely medium brown and crispy. Enjoy! ~TMMF

This is the crab meat I buy, lump, and about $15 or so on sale.

Crab Fantasy Pizza

1 pizza dough
1 ½ Tbl butter
1 sm shallot
1 lg clove garlic
1 Tbl flour
1 c light cream or half & half
½ tsp salt
Few twists fresh ground pepper
1 ½ c mozzarella cheese
2 sm Roma tomatoes
1-2 sprigs fresh basil leaves
8 oz lump crab meat