Holiday Crab And Ricotta Cheese Mousse Recipe

Let the holiday entertaining begin! Yup, this is the time when friends and family gather to eat, drink and be merry. And what better way to celebrate the festive season than with cheese?! In my opinion, cheese makes everything better (from appetizers and mains to desserts and my all-time fave: wine). So I was beyond excited when I received a special package from the elves at Dairy Farmers of Canada that contained everything I need to whip up an appetizer for the plethora of holiday parties I’m hosting in the coming weeks. As I rummaged through the package, my eyes focused in on the star ingredient: you guessed it, the CHEESE. Oh, but it was not just any cheese, it was a 2013 Canadian Cheese Grand Prix winner: Quality Cheese Ricotta.

Before giving the Crab And Ricotta Cheese Mousse recipe a shot, I had to have a little taste to see what the award-winner was like on its own. I’m not a huge fan of ricotta, but this fresh cheese won me over. It’s so creamy and well-balanced! Okay, now it’s time to share the tasty recipe with you. Here’s what you’ll need:

Ingredients

• Pour lime juice into a small bowl and sprinkle with gelatin. Let stand 5 minutes to soften, then add 2 tbsp (30 ml) boiling water to dissolve gelatin.

• Place celery, parsley, cilantro, green onion and lime zest in a food processor. Process until finely chopped.

• Add half the crabmeat, the paprika and Ricotta. Process until well combined, add gelatin and season with salt and pepper.

• To mould the mousse, use a muffin pan or individual moulds (ramekins). Line inside of moulds with plastic wrap or parchment paper to make unmoulding easier.
• Pour mousse into moulds and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

• To unmould muffin pan, invert over a baking sheet, remove plastic wrap and place on plates. To unmould ramekins, invert each over plates and remove plastic wrap.
• Garnish with remaining crab, panko breadcrumbs and some fresh cilantro.

Ta-da…

My modifications to the above recipe: I added 1/2 tbsp more lime juice, 1/2 tsp of salt and used only half the amount of crab meat. Oh, and I totally forgot about the panko breadcrumbs! I also refrigerated the mousse overnight. Can’t wait to share it with my friends! But first, I devoured a few spoonfuls myself…

The mousse is so delicate and light! It doesn’t have a very strong flavour profile which actually makes it a great appy for large groups (not everyone is into the garlic and spice I like in my foods). And it only took about 25 min to whip up so I’m definitely going to make it again (and again and again). I tasted the mousse with PC Crisp & Thin Whole Grain Crackers With Flax and Honey and thought it added a bit more dimension to the appetizer. Next time, I’m going to make it with shrimp instead of crab. If you give this recipe a shot, let me know what modifications you make and how you serve it up. Bon Appétit!

Special thanks to the folks at Dairy Farmers of Canada for sending over the ingredients and recipe for me to try out. As always, all reviews and opinions are entirely my own.