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Crab and Celery Salad

When I ate my way through Baltimore, crabs were to be had in many ways. It was spring, and soft-shells were on every menu, as were crab cakes, crab cocktails, and crab salads. Most of the dishes had some version of tartar sauce, ketchup cocktail sauce, or rémoulade served with them. I got a yearning for a crab salad Italian-style, so, without much ado, here is one that evokes a lobster salad they often make in Sardinia.

Recipe information

  • Yield

    serves 4

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups thin bias-cut inner stalks celery and leaves
2 large hard-boiled eggs, peeled and coarsely chopped
2 ripe medium tomatoes, seeded, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
3 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley
3 tablespoons lemon juice
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 pound jumbo lump crabmeat, picked through for shells

Preparation

  1. Mix the celery, eggs, tomatoes, and parsley together in a large bowl. Drizzle with the lemon juice and olive oil, seasoning with salt. Toss well, to coat the salad with the dressing. Add the crabmeat, and toss gently to combine, without breaking up the lumps of crab.

Cover of the cookbook featuring the author with a table full of fresh herbs and vegetables.
Reprinted with permission from Lidia's Italy in America by Lidia Matticchio Bastianich and Tanya Bastianich Manuali. Copyright © 2011 by Lidia Matticchio Bastianich and Tanya Bastianich Manuali. Excerpted by permission of Knopf, a division of Random House, Inc. All rights reserved. Buy the full book from Amazon or Bookshop.
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