Maryland Crab Cakes With Sun-Dried Tomato Aioli - cooking recipe

Ingredients

Crab cakes
2 tablespoons canola oil (or vegetable oil)
2 scallions, trimmed, thinly sliced
1 celery rib, inner rib, trimmed, diced fine
1/2 red bell pepper, seeded, diced fine
1 extra large egg
1 teaspoon Old Bay Seasoning
1 tablespoon light mayonnaise
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard (or Verjus mustard)
1 tablespoon flat leaf parsley, chopped
kosher salt
fresh ground pepper
1 lb lump crabmeat, picked over
2 tablespoons plain breadcrumbs, plus extra for coating the cakes
2 -3 tablespoons Crisco shortening
Sun-Dried Tomato Aioli
3 tablespoons sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil, pureed
1/2 cup light mayonnaise

Preparation

For the crab cakes: Heat oil in large skillet and add the scallions, celery and red pepper dice. Saute for 4-5 minutes until vegetables are barely tender.
Remove from heat, transfer to a plate and let cool.
In a mixing bowl, beat the egg and whisk in the Old Bay, mayonnaise, mustard, salt, pepper and parsley.
Add the cooled vegetable mixture and stir to mix.
Add crab meat and 2 tablespoons breadcrumbs and stir gently to mix, be careful not to break up the crab meat.
Scoop about one-half cup of the mixture for each cake and shape them. Use extra crumbs to coat the outside if cakes are too moist.
Arrange on a plate, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 15-20 minutes.
When ready to cook, melt shortening in a skillet over medium heat. Put crab cakes in 3-4 at a time and saute until golden brown, no longer than 3 minutes per side.
To make the aioli simply add the sun-dried tomatoes and the mayonnaise together and stir well to mix.
Taste for additional seasoning (salt and pepper) and refrigerate until ready to serve.