Crab Rolls with Lemon Aioli

By jeckert

New Orleans chefs often drown seafood in rich, spicy sauces, but here, chef Jason McCullar of Cure simply dresses sweet crabmeat (a Louisiana staple) in lemon-scented aioli. The crab salad is wonderful piled on hot dog buns like a New England lobster roll or arranged delicately on small rolls as hors d'oeuvres.

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cups aioli or mayonnaise
• 2 large celery ribs, cut into 1/4-inch dice
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• Cayenne pepper
• 1 1/4 pounds lump crabmeat, picked over and lightly broken up
• Salt
• 8 hot dog buns or 16 mini brioche rolls, split
• 8 Boston lettuce leaves, sliced

Preparation

Step 1

1.In a large bowl, mix the mayonnaise with the celery and lemon juice and season with cayenne. Gently fold in the crabmeat and season with salt. Fill the buns with the lettuce and the crab salad and serve.


Make Ahead
The crab salad can be refrigerated overnight