Crayfish Lettuce Cups | Party Food Recipes

CRAYFISH (KREEFT) LETTUCE CUPS

This recipe is sooooo easy and so versatile. For large parties, serve it in lettuce cups for a 'low-carb' option, or on little toasts or bread rounds. For intimate dinner parties, stack the ingredients into rounds to impress your guest!

PREP TIME: 10 min

ASSENBLE TIME: 10 min

MAKES: 25-30 lettuce cups (depending on how big your lettuce leaves are)

or 4-5 Sarter ‘Stacks’

INGREDIENTS

FOR THE CRAYFISH FILLING:

500 g cooked, shelled crayfish (kreeft)
¼ cup mayonnaise
¼ cup (30g) diced red onion
4 tsp (20ml) fresh lime juice
¼ cup (10g) chopped, fresh cilantro (coriander)
1/8 tsp salt (or to taste)

FOR SERVING AS LETTUCE CUPS

5-6 heads of Baby Romain (Baby Gems)
2 avocados, peeled, pit removed and diced
salt to taste

FOR SERVING AS A STACK

2 avocados, peeled, pit removed and diced
250 g cherry tomatoes, finely chopped
Salt to taste

FILLING INGREDIENTS

Cooked (and shelled) crayfish, diced red onion, cilantro (coriander), mayonnaise, fresh lime juice & avocado.

'BABY GEMS' LETTUCE

Called 'Baby Gems' in Europe, these miniature romaine lettuce heads are perfect to use the leaves as lettuce cups.

MIX THE FILLING

Mix crayfish, onion, cilantro, mayonnaise, lime juice and salt together in a large bowl. If not serving immediately, transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate.

SERVE AS LETTUCE CUPS

Peel your avocado, remove pit and cut into small pieces. Sprinkle a bit of salt over the cut avocado (this REALLY brings out it's flavour).

Slice the root end off your baby lettuce and separate the leaves.

Spread a spoonful of your crayfish mixture into the lettuce cups, and then top with a few diced avocado chunks.

Serve immediately.

Party Platter

SERVE AS A STACK

Peel your avocado, remove pit and cut into small pieces. Sprinkle a bit of salt over the cut avocado (this REALLY brings out it's flavour).

Set a 3-inch (7.5 cm) round mold onto an individual serving plate. First spoon in first your crayfish mixture and pack it down tightly with the back of a spoon. Repeat with a layer of avocado, and then a layer of tomatoes.

Gently lift the mold straight up, and garnish with a few fresh cilantro leaves.

Serve immediately.

Crayfish Rounds

Avocado, tomato and dressed crayfish.

Recipe and photo credit: Cathy Menees

COOK'S NOTES

INGREDIENTS:

In Europe, the miniature heads of romaine lettuce are called Baby Gems. If you can’t find these, you can also try this with a normal sized head of romaine, butter, bib or iceberg lettuce and tear of pieces to make your own cups.

Just make sure to use one of the above lettuces, as they have a clean, neutral taste (vs. other lettuce greens that can have a bitter taste, which will fight the filling).

Crayfish = kreeft in Dutch. You can also use cooked crab, lobster or shrimp for this, but that will increase your costs

TIMING:

You can make the filling mixture 2-3 hours in advance, but make sure you serve the lettuce cups (and/or stacks) immediately, as the lettuce will wilt if it stands there, and the stacks could start to tumble.

Recipe & Photo Credit: Cathy Menees