Recipe: hot crab dip from Geoff Hopgood of Hopgood’s Foodliner

PREP TIME: 15 minutes BAKE TIME: 15 minutes Serves 8 to 12

HOT CRAB DIP

2 cups crab meat, canned or lumped ½ lemon 12 oz cream cheese, at room temperature 5 tbsp mayonnaise 2 green onions, finely chopped 1 small garlic clove, finely grated 2 pinches cayenne pepper 3 dashes Worcestershire sauce Pinch of salt ¼ cup each grated Parmesan and panko bread crumbs Triscuit crackers

1. Preheat oven to 375º F. Drain crab meat (if canned) and pat dry. Grate 2 tsp lemon zest into small bowl, then squeeze in 2 tbsp juice. Whip cream cheese with electric mixer for 3 minutes until fluffy. Add mayo. Beat until mixed. Beat in crab, then onions and garlic. Add lemon zest and juice, cayenne, Worcestershire and salt. Spoon mixture into a large ramekin or ovenproof dish. Stir Parmesan with panko in a bowl. Sprinkle evenly over crab dip mixture.

2. Bake in centre of oven for 15 to 20 minutes until crust is golden. Serve with Triscuits.

TIP If you’re not a Triscuit fan, this dip also tastes excellent served with torn crusty baguette, fennel crackers or flatbread.

GEOFF HOPGOOD HOPGOOD’S FOODLINER At the Roncesvalles restaurant Hopgood’s Foodliner, chef Geoff Hopgood serves up elevated twists on Maritime standards like donairs and mackerel with oatcakes. For his popular crab dip, though, he’s remained true to his mom’s decades-old recipe—the same one she’d slather on Triscuits at Tupperware parties. Hopgood’s one concession to cheffy-ness: swapping plain bread crumbs for panko, which, along with good grated Parmesan, makes a nice, crunchy crust.

Recipes developed by Victoria Walsh. Recipe photography by Ryan Szulc. Portrait photography by Raina and Wilson. Illustrations by Aleksandar Janicijevic. Interviews by Denise Balkissoon, Ariel Brewster, Andrew D’Cruz, Jennifer Goldberg, Matthew Hague, Claire Hastings, Bronwen Jervis and Simone Olivero.