Dungeness Crab Melt with Tillamook Cheddar Cheese

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Open Faced Dungeness Crab Melt

Rich, buttery Dungeness crab, Tillamook sharp white and medium cheddar and fire roasted tomatillo on grilled sourdough toast.

Course Breakfast, Main Course

Cuisine Burgers, Sandwiches, Pizza, Seafood

Keyword crab, pnw recpies, sandwich

Prep Time 12 minutes minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes minutes

Total Time 27 minutes minutes

Servings 4

Ingredients

• 10 tomatillos, sliced in half shell removed
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 4 1 inch sourdough bread slices
• 2 tbsp butter
• 1 lb Dungeness crab
• 1 cup Tillamook white cheddar cheese, shredded
• 1 cup Tillamook medium cheddar cheese, shredded
• 3 tbsp mayonnaise
• 4 tsp green onion, thinly chopped plus more for garnish

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Place tomatillo halves on a sheet pan and roast until charred about 10 minutes.  Remove from oven, reserve 4 halves of tomatillo for crab mixture. Blend the remaining tomatillos with a splash of heavy cream.  Set aside.
• Heat a cast iron grill pan over medium high heat. Butter both sides of each slice of sourdough bread. Grill on each side and set aside.
• Drain excess moisture from crab meat and place crab meat in a bowl.  Add Tillamook white cheddar cheese, Tillamook medium cheddar cheese, mayonnaise, green onion and 4 halves of the roasted tomatillo. Gently fold together. 
• Place grilled slices of sourdough bread on a sheet pan. Top with 1/4 of the crab mixture. Place under broiler until melted and dripping down the sides.
• Place a spoonful of tomatillo sauce on each serving plate and toasted crab melt on top. Garnish with thinly sliced green onions. (This is an open faced sandwich. Photo shows two slices of grilled toast, but recipe only calls for one.)

Growing up in the Pacific Northwest, my family would always go boating. We would come home with the freshest seafood from King salmon to Dungeness crab and when we did, my mother would make Dungeness crab melts. The classic version uses cheddar cheese and a slice of tomato. I’ve taken a blend of buttery Dungeness crab, sharp white cheddar, fire roasted tomatillos and spicy pepper jack and mounded it up on grilled sourdough. it’s rich, it’s cheesy and it is perfect for Valentine’s Day brunch or anytime you want an indulgence.