Baltimore Crab Pretzel Sticks

By MooK

Ingredients

• 1 pound pizza dough, thawed if frozen
• 1/2 pound flake or backfin crabmeat, picked over for shell fragments
• 4 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 2 heaped tablespoons mayonnaise
• juice and zest of one lemon
• kosher salt, to taste
• 6 ounces shredded cheddar and jack mix
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• snipped chives, to garnish

Preparation

Step 1

For the crab dip:

In a large bowl, combine crabmeat, cream cheese, mayonnaise, lemon juice, zest and salt, pepper and Old Bay seasoning to taste. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

For the pretzels:

Preheat oven to 450F.
Divide pizza dough into 8 portions, then roll each portion into a thick rope. Brush each one with beaten egg, then bake for 10 minutes until just about golden brown. Do not bake completely or your pretzels will be too hard.

Remove pretzels from the oven and allow to cool completely. Layer each pretzel with a thick layer of crab salad, then sprinkle generously with shredded cheese, pressing in to adhere.

Preheat broiler to high and return pretzels to the oven about 6 inches from the flame. Broil until cheese is bubbly and golden-brown.

Remove from oven, garnish with chives and serve while hot.