Anne Morgan Delia Smith’s crab tart recipe is her Cromer Crab Tart, which serves 4 to 6. You mix crab with eggs, crème fraîche, sherry and Parmesan, then pour it into a ready-made pastry case. It bakes for about 40 minutes at 180°C, so the whole tart takes about an hour.
She printed it in How to Cheat at Cooking (2008). The Telegraph printed her little Cornish crab and Parmesan tarts at Christmas that year, but they are a different recipe.
Tinned crab works well, so you can make it any time of year. Serve it with a green salad and lots of watercress, as Delia does.
Her Louisiana crab cakes come from the same book and use tinned crab too.
Delia Smith’s Crab Tart
Course: DinnerCuisine: BritishDifficulty: Easy4-6
servings10
minutes50
minutes495
kcalA tart of white crab meat, beaten eggs, half-fat crème fraîche and a little dry sherry, topped with Parmesan and baked until just set.
Ingredients
- For the tart:
1 x 230g ready-made large shortcrust pastry case
1 medium dressed Cromer crab, or 2 x 170g tins jumbo or other white crab meat
2 eggs, beaten
1 tablespoon dry sherry
1 x 200ml tub half-fat crème fraîche
2 rounded tablespoons ready-grated Parmesan
salt and freshly milled black pepper
- To serve:
a green salad with lots of watercress
Directions
- Oven: Heat the oven to 200°C, gas mark 6, and put a baking sheet in the centre while it heats.
- Crab: Take the crab meat out of the shell, or drain the tins, and tip it into a mixing bowl.
- Mix: Add the eggs, sherry, ¼ teaspoon cayenne, the crème fraîche and 1½ rounded tablespoons of the Parmesan. Season, then mix thoroughly.
- Fill: Using oven gloves, put the pastry case, still in its foil container, on the hot baking sheet. Pour in the crab mixture, then sprinkle over the rest of the Parmesan and a pinch of cayenne.
- Bake: Turn the oven down to 180°C, gas mark 4. Bake the tart in the centre of the oven for 35 to 40 minutes, until golden, puffy and just set in the middle.
- Serve: Leave the tart to settle for about 10 minutes. Then serve it with the watercress salad.
Notes
- Fishmongers and many supermarket fish counters sell dressed crab, already prepared in its shell, my own tip.
FAQs
Fresh dressed crab or tinned?
Both work. Delia says that when you can’t find a dressed Cromer crab, the tinned kind is more than acceptable.
For tins, buy 2 x 170g of jumbo or other white crab meat and drain them well. For a whole dressed crab, one medium one is enough, and you scoop the meat straight out of the shell.
A dressed crab also holds some brown meat, so the tart tastes a little stronger, my own note. Jumbo tinned crab comes in bigger flakes, which look better in the slices.
How do I know when the crab tart is cooked?
Look for a puffed, browned top that is just set in the centre. At 180°C, gas mark 4, that takes 35 to 40 minutes.
Check it at 35 minutes, and give it the extra 5 only if the centre still looks liquid, my own tip. Then give it about 10 minutes out of the oven before you cut it, so it can settle.
Can I make mini crab tarts?
Yes, her note says the same mixture fills 6 frozen tartlet cases. Bake them just as you would the big tart, with the baking sheet heated first.
Divide the filling evenly between the cases, then top each one with a little Parmesan and cayenne. Small tarts suit a starter for 6, my own idea.
What can I use instead of crab?
Use 250g smoked salmon trimmings in place of the crab, Delia says. Leave out the sherry and the Parmesan, and add a little grated nutmeg instead.
Everything else stays the same, including the oven and the timing. For a deeper tart, her Smoked Salmon and Dill Tart has its own Parmesan pastry.
Which pastry case should I buy?
A 230g ready-made large shortcrust case from the chilled cabinet. Delia leaves it in its foil container and puts it straight onto the heated sheet.
That way you need no tin, no rolling and no baking blind. Delia calls tarts like this almost-instant, and the bought case is the reason.
Her Roquefort and Leek Tart, on the page before, uses the same 230g case, the same oven and the same 35 to 40 minutes. So once you know one, you can make the other.
