Crab and Avocado Rolls
Thursday, July 22, 2010 at 8:44PM 
There can be no doubt that I’m in the throes of a mid-summer avocado obsession. First we were grilling them, then we had to make avocado fries, then we were stuffing them inside quesadillas, and now we are nestling them next to crab in this wonder of a little appetizer roll.
Can there be two words that belong together more than crab and avocado? I think not. OK, maybe wine and cheese. But crab and avocado were most assuredly made for each other, and they certainly belong together inside a flour tortilla with a squirt of lemon, some Dijon mustard, mayo, a little chopped lettuce and sesame oil. Oh, and it all comes together into one very sexy little appetizer.
And who else, but Nigella Lawson would give us such a treat? I mean, really. These crab and avocado rolls have all the earmarks of a Nigella recipe… simple, luscious, and a heavenly little indulgence.
The recipe only makes one wrap, so plan on doubling, tripling or octupling the recipe to however many people you are planning to serve. It also has you slicing the roll into thirds, but after making this a few times, I found that slicing it into smaller pieces not only serves more, but makes them easier to eat.
So I give you my latest in a possibly long line of avocado cravings. I cannot promise that I will be set free from this obsession any time soon. But there are worse things, no?
Crab and Avocado Rolls
Recipe courtesy Nigella Lawson
1/2 cup white crabmeat
1 tablespoon mayonaise
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard or wasabi paste
1 or 2 drops sesame oil
1/2 avocado
1/4 cup finely shredded iceberg lettuce
Squeeze lemon juice
1 soft flour tortilla wrap
Put the crabmeat into a bowl and add the mayonnaise, wasabi paste or Dijon mustard and oil and stir to mix. Lay the wrap in front of you and put the crabmeat in a line horizontally about an inch up from the bottom of the wrap. Take the avocado half still with skin and scoop out the flesh in half teaspoonful curls, laying these on top of the line of crabmeat.
Sprinkle over the lettuce in a neat line also, and then spritz with the lemon juice. Roll up tightly from the bottom, to form a fat cigar and then slice on an angle into 3 pieces.
Reader Comments (12)
I LOVE avocado in the summer time - it's the perfect food and looks delicious in these rolls!
It's "throes" :) Also, I love these rolls!
Thanks Amie... throes it is!
Is Wasabi paste an ingredient of this recipe?
One of Nigellia's recipes for this included tuna, carrot, cucumber and yes, wasabi paste. This version I substituted the dijon mustard for the wasabi and instead of the tuna, just included the crab. You could definitely use wasabi instead of Dijon and tuna for the crab. Infinite possibilities!
These look absolutely amazing and combine two of my favorite ingredients: crab and avocado. Can't wait to make these.
I came here through a sixpackabsv.com recipe link to your site and I have to say your page has some very tasty looking treats! I had no idea avocados were so flexible.
So glad you found us, Jay! Welcome! We love avocados around here and will find any excuse to use them however we can. These crab and avocado rolls are incredible. Hope you give them a try! Nice to hear from you!
Hi, I see in ingredients list Dijon mustard but not in preparation. And you use wasabi paste in prepration but it's not on the ingredients list. Please clarify, what did you use Dijon mustard or wasabi paste?
Whoops! Thanks for pointing that out, Ri! The original recipe called for wasabi paste, but I substituted Dijon mustard (just forgot to note it in the body of the recipe). I've corrected the error. You can use either. The Dijon mustard from Trader Joe's is very spicy and worked perfectly in this. So it's up to you which you prefer. Thanks so much for letting me know!
Thanks for the reply, Patrice,
I didn’t have tortilla wraps at home so I made it like a guacamole dip (a variation of your two recipes: Crab and Avocado Rolls and Seafood Guacamole). I used what I had in my pantry. So, I mashed together with a fork a 6 oz.can of Bumble Bee premium Lump crabmeat from Costco, a whole avocado, Emeril’s mustard with horseradish, a few drops of sesame oil, lemon juice and a Tbsp. of mayo.
Thank you for your great blog which I found only today, by I’m so glad I did!
Wow! That sounds amazing, Ri! Very creative use of the pantry and I bet it's delicious! Thanks for letting us know!