Simple And Sinful Crab Au Gratin - cooking recipe

Ingredients

2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons plain flour
1 pint double cream
1 1/2 cups freshly grated parmesan cheese or 1 1/2 cups romano cheese
1 pinch ground cayenne pepper
1 pinch ground paprika
2 (170 g) cans white crabmeat
1 (43 g) can dressed crab or (43 g) can brown crabmeat
salt & freshly ground black pepper

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 200C/400\u00b0F.
Flake the white crabmeat and combine with the brown crabmeat in a bowl and set aside.
Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the flour and cook, whisking for one minute. In a separate pan, gently heat the double cream.
Remove the butter and flour mixture from the heat and whisk in the heated cream. Return to the heat, gently bring to a boil, then simmer, whisking for a minute or two until thickened.
Add three quarters of the cheese, the cayenne and paprika and two-thirds of the crab. Season with a little bit of salt and freshly ground pepper.
Divide the remaining crabmeat between six ramekins. Top with the creamy crab and cheese mixture, and sprinkle the remaining cheese over the top.
Place the ramekins onto a baking tray and bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes or until bubbling hot and golden.
Serve the crab au gratin with triangles of toasted fresh bread or rounds of ciabatta and a simple green herb salad.