Ingredients

• • 2 Eggs
• • Splash of Cream
• • 1 Cup Flour
• • 1 Tablespoon Corn Starch
• • Salt & Pepper, to taste
• • 3 Soft Shell Crabs
• • 1/2 Cup Oil (for frying)
• • 12 oz Pimento Cheese
• • 6 Slices of Bread
• • Mayonaise
• • Butter
• • Lettuce (optional)
• • Parsley (optional)
• • A squeeze of lemon (optional)

National Grilled Cheese Day is April 12th. My good friends Tia and Art (the dynamic duo behind Casual Crabbing with Tia) reached out to our team saying how they are dying to try a pimento cheese grilled cheese sandwich. Who was I to refuse this craving?! But I had one condition... 

We had to add a lowcountry soft shell crab to the sandwich... & so, we did!

Soft shell crabs are only in-season during specific times of the year, depending on your water temperatures, and there is a molting time period that has to happen. Tia and Art sourced our soft shell crabs from my favorite, local seafood shop – Tarvin's Seafood Shop. 

Once we fried our soft shell crabs, we sandwiched them in between two slices of bread slathered in our pimento cheese. I added lettuce and parsley to my and Tia's sandwich (Art is NO GREENS!). What we were left with was just crumbs... trust me – 

These sandwiches are amazing! 

Instructions:

1. Create your crab breading by using two bowls. In the first, combine 2 whisked eggs with a splash of cream. In the second, combine flour, corn starch, salt, and pepper.
2. Dip your soft shell crab (one at a time) in the egg mixture, then the flour mixture. Coat well with the flour mixture. Set aside on a rack. 
3. Add oil to a cast iron skillet and heat on medium high until hot, not smoking. 
4. Add flour-coated soft shell crabs to the hot pan. Fry for 3-minutes per side. I used my Chef's Press to weigh down the crabs so they got nice and crispy. 
5. Once fried, put the crabs back on a rack to drain, clean out your cast iron, and turn heat to medium. 
6. Spread equal parts mayo and butter onto on one side of each slice of bread. 
7. On the opposite side of the bread slice, add a heaping portion of pimento cheese.  
8. Add the pimento cheese bread slice to the cast iron, mayo/butter side down and grill until cheese is melted and bread is brown and crispy. 
9. Add the soft shell crab on top of the melted pimento cheese. Add lettuce, parsley, and a squeeze of lemon, if desired. Top with the second slice of bread (mayo/butter side up). 
10. Flip the sandwiches, pressing down to let the ingredients meld together until toasty. 
11. Enjoy hot! 

Shop the Post: 

Pimento Cheese

Sea Salt Biscuit Crackers (to pair!)

Take a crabbing class with Casual Crabbing with Tia