Difficulty: Easy
Prep Time: 45 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients:

1 lemon
8 live soft-shell crabs
flour, for dredging
6 Tbs. unsalted butter
Salt and pepper
4 Tbs. finely chopped tomato confit
1 Tbs. chopped shallots
1 Tbs. capers
1 Tbs. finely chopped parsley
1 Tbs. pitted finely chopped black olives

Directions:

1. With a knife, cut away the skin of the lemon, removing every trace of pith and exposing the fruit. Cut between the membranes, releasing the lemon segments. Cut the segments into small dice. You will need 1 tablespoon.
   
2. To clean the soft-shell crabs, cut off the gills (a cotton-like membrane under each side of the head) by lifting the sides of the upper shell and snipping with scissors. Cut off the turned under tail as well as the head directly behind the eyes.
   
3. Scrape out the inside through the opening at the head with a knife, and rinse the opening under cold water. Dry the crabs with a paper towels and refrigerate until needed.
   
4. Dredge each crab in flour, shaking off any excess. In a large pan over medium heat, warm 3 tablespoons of butter. Add the crabs bottom side up and cook for 3 minutes on each side.
   
5. Season with salt and pepper.
   
6. Remove, keep warm, and set aside.
   
7. Add the remaining butter to same pan and heat until golden brown.
   
8. Add the tomato confit, capers, lemon, parsley, shallots and olives and cook until mixture is warmed through.

To serve: Place two crabs on center of plate. Add the vegetables on top of crabs and around the plate.

This recipe was provided by professional chefs and has been scaled down from a bulk recipe provided by a restaurant. Fine Living has not tested this recipe in the proportions indicated and therefore cannot make any representation as to the results.