Crab-Stuffed Shrimp with White Wine Sauce

Look at the size of these babies:





Yep. They’re shrimp. Weighing in at 4-1/2 to 5-1/4 ounces each, they were obviously the class bullies! We bought some for our Christmas Eve celebration with my parents, and saved a few for our New Year’s Eve Dinner. Although they tasted more like lobster, they were nevertheless absolutely delicious.


I had planned to stuff them with crabmeat stuffing from a recipe which my friend Jenni sent to me. Unfortunately, I made a last minute decision to leave my laptop at home as we were packing the car for our trip, and that’s where the stuffing recipe was. Not wanting to get sucked online while at my parents’ house, I sat down with a paper and pencil and wrote down what ingredients I could remember and what I thought would be in a crabmeat stuffing. The Mom and I made it, tasting and writing down the measurements. It was perfect.


(A silly story: We had made the stuffing early Christmas Eve day, put it in the refrigerator, and then Jack and I went to an afternoon party at my cousin’s house. As always, we drank and laughed and I ended up over-imbibing a little. Okay, a lot. When we got back to Mom & Dad’s, I set about preparing dinner. I shelled those huge shrimp, butterflied them, set them perfectly (tail up) into the baking dish, and then proceeded to scoop the crabmeat stuffing onto the shrimp. Except that it wasn’t the stuffing! Mom had rinsed out the plastic crabmeat container and stored some leftover potato salad from lunch in it. I saw the container and, in my boozy mind, I had thought that it contained the crabmeat stuffing! Fortunately, I had only prepared one shrimp before we realized the mistake, that lump of potato salad was removed, and replaced with the real stuffing. Potato-salad-stuffed shrimp, anyone? *no, thanks*)


Anyway, I present to you:


* Exported from MasterCook *

Crab-stuffed Shrimp with White Wine Sauce

Recipe By : Vicci
Servings : 4

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon minced onion
2 teaspoons minced celery
1 1/2 tablespoons minced red bell pepper
1/4 teaspoon minced garlic
3/4 cup dry white wine
1 1/2 tablespoons heavy cream
3/4 teaspoon dijon mustard
1 tablespoon mayonnaise
2 teaspoons minced parsley
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
dash cayenne
4 whole saltine cracker -- crushed
8 ounces crab meat
16 ounces shrimp -- U4 size; 4 total

***Paprika and minced parsley to finish.***



Melt butter in a small skillet over medium heat. Add the onion, celery, and red bell pepper. Saute for 3 minutes, stirring often. Add the garlic and continue to saute, stirring constantly to prevent sticking, for another 2 minutes or until the vegetables are softened.


Remove the vegetables to a medium bowl to cool, keeping some of the butter in the pan. Place back over the medium heat and add the wine. Cook and stir for 6-8 minutes, until it is reduced almost by half; then add the cream and dijon mustard. Stir for another 2 minutes and remove from heat.


Preheat the oven to 375F.


To the vegetables (cooled to about room temperature) add the ingredients mayonnaise through cayenne. Stir. Add the crushed crackers, mix slightly, then lightly mix in the crabmeat.


Prepare the shrimp: remove the shells, leave the tails on if desired, then butterfly. Place in a buttered baking dish, open side down with tail curling upward. Divide the stuffing between, mounding nicely on the shrimp. Drizzle the wine sauce over the stuffing and the excess into the dish. Spray the tops of the shrimp (especially the tail which was not covered with sauce) with cooking spray to keep moist.


Bake for about 15 minutes, or until shrimp is pink and flesh is opaque. Sprinkle with paprika and parsley.



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Per serving: 317 Calories (kcal); 14g Total Fat; (43% calories from fat); 35g Protein; 4g Carbohydrate; 247mg Cholesterol; 624mg Sodium
Food Exchanges: 0 Grain(Starch); 5 Lean Meat; 0 Vegetable; 0 Fruit; 2 Fat; 0 Other Carbohydrates



I am sorry that there is no photo. The finished dish was very beautiful, but my family is not much for stopping to admire their dinner before digging in. Think: white baking dish, mega-sized pink shrimp each with a very lightly browned crabmeat stuffing mounded on top, a very pale golden wine sauce pooled beneath, and flecks of red paprika and green parsley over it all. I want more!



The above is a photo of our New Year's Eve dinner. We had a few of the mega-shrimp left over and, because Jack does not like crab (silly man), I subbed lightly poached tilapia in its place. It was very good, but I still prefer the crab stuffing. :)