Let's talk casseroles. They are my favorite form of comfort food, my favorite form of leftovers, and I just can't imagine life without them. I grew up on all the greats---tuna noodle, chicken spaghetti (the one with Velveeta-yes, please, and thank you), lasagne, cheesy broccoli and rice, and more. So, so many more.
But, a 9x13" pan of anything in a household of two is a great way for us to never want to eat a certain recipe ever again. People tell me that if two people split one pan of lasagne in between bouts of feeding a newborn baby, we'll never want to eat lasagne again. I can definitely see that happening.
Anytime I make a casserole in this house, I either scale it down to fit in an 8x8" pan, or I put half in the freezer. One of my all-time favorite casseroles is Heidi's Wild Rice Casserole, and while I love it, I always divide it in half and put half in the freezer. It's a case of too much of a good thing.
So, this rice casserole is perfectly portioned to serve two for dinner one night, and two for lunch the next day.
This casserole hits all the high notes for me in the casserole world: creamy, hearty, and with a flavor that just gets better over time. I stirred a Cajun cream sauce into hot, cooked white rice. Old Bay seasoning is making me a little weak in the knees lately. Then, I added a bump of mascarpone cheese for creaminess, and plopped mushrooms on top to roast while the casserole baked.
As for the crab, please, be kind to yourself and buy it already cooked and cleaned. Since the snow crab claws come already cooked, so all I had to do was pop them out of the shells and stir them into the dish. I highly recommend them, but if you can't find them, any cooked crab will work great in this recipe.
Crab is pretty. The end.
Dinner for Two: Cajun Rice Crab Casserole
A delicious and easy to make rice casserole.
Ingredients
- 3 cups cooked white rice
- 1 lb cooked and cleaned crab meat
- 3 T unsalted butter
- 2 stalks celery, diced
- 1 small onion, diced
- 2 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning
- 3 T flour
- 2 cups whole milk
- ½ teaspoon salt
- freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 6 ounces mascarpone cheese
- ⅓ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
- 4 large portobello mushroom caps, cleaned
- 2 T olive oil
- sprigs of fresh thyme
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350, and lightly grease a 8Ã?8-inch square casserole dish.
- In a large bowl, add the rice.
- Pull the meat out of the crab claws and add it to the bowl. Stir to combine.
- In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, melt the butter.
- Add the diced celery, onion and Old Bay seasoning.
- Saute until the vegetables are tender, about 5 minutes.
- Sprinkle over the flour and cook while stirring for 2 minutes.
- Slowly stream in the milk.
- Let the milk come to a simmer to thicken.
- It will coat the back of a spoon when thickened.
- Finally, stir in the salt, pepper and mascarpone cheese.
- Remove from the heat, and stir occasionally until the mascarpone melts completely.
- Pour the mascarpone sauce over the rice and crab mixture.
- Stir together, and then pour the mixture into the casserole dish. Sprinkle the Parmesan cheese evenly over the top.
- Clean the portobello caps by removing the stem and the gills.
- Rub them with the olive oil, and place on top of the rice in the casserole dish.
- Top with fresh thyme, and bake for 30 minutes, until bubbling around the edges.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
4Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 727Total Fat: 43gSaturated Fat: 22gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 17gCholesterol: 210mgSodium: 1457mgCarbohydrates: 51gFiber: 3gSugar: 9gProtein: 34g
beth says
this looks delicious. question, tho - why/how do you remove the gills on the mushroom caps?
Christina Lane says
Hi Beth! It's just personal preference really. I don't like how they stain everything black once they're cooked. You totally don't have to, though!
Jennie @onesweetmess says
You had me at crab. I live in Baltimore and it's all about Maryland crabs. The season is quickly approaching and I won't be able to resist the urge to whip up this very delicious casserole. Pinned.
Jenice says
Have you tried Blackened Old Bay? It would really add a punch to this casserole.
Crystal says
This looks fantastic! I can relate to the casserole issue as well, since it is just myself and my hubby! He love baked ziti, but after making it and eating it that night and possibly the next day for lunch and/or dinner, the last thing you want to do is open the fridge and see that giant left over still half a pan sitting in the fridge! I gotten to the point where I freeze it in individual servings like frozen dinners and we can pull them out later on those nights when we are in a hurry or just too lazy to cook and in a few minutes in the microwave we have a quick and easy dinner and haven't gotten sick of something and I didn't throw away a ton of food either!
nancy says
I have never heard of chicken spaghetti with velveeta so I looked it up. 1340 calories per serving. No thanks.
Amber | Caleigh's Kitchen says
Wow! This looks amazing, I love all of the flavors and then topped with giant mushroom caps?! This is totally in my wheelhouse!
Amber | Caleigh's Kitchen says
Also, I just noticed we are practically neighbors! I am a Texan too, grew up around San Antonio, lived in Dallas for a while and now east of there a couple hours! :-)