Pearls & Pasta — A Story & Recipe
This rich, custardy Italian-American crab pie — made with a sour cream crust and served as part of a traditional Christmas Eve Seven Fishes dinner — is the recipe I searched for years to find again.
I once made a crab pie so good my sister-in-law ran back for seconds before anyone else could get firsts.
Then I lost the recipe.
Years later, I found it again — not in a cookbook, but in memory.
Some dishes aren’t just food. They’re moments you refuse to forget. 💜
There are recipes you make once and forget… and then there are recipes that imprint themselves on a moment, a room, a table full of people.
This crab pie belongs to the second kind. A reminder of a pie my Nonna made moons ago and an un-recipe I lost in the mix of life.
Years ago, I found one similar tucked into a small local Delaware magazine — the kind you grab without thinking and somehow never throw away… except I did. It came from a family-run Italian restaurant near Greenville, refined but warm, the kind of place that cooked from memory more than measurements.
I made it once, for Christmas Eve. Deep dish. Creamy. Custardy. Crab in every bite. My sister-in-law was the first to cut a slice. She took one bite, paused, then ran back to the kitchen saying, “That is the best thing I’ve ever had — and I’m getting more before anyone else does.”
And just like that, the recipe disappeared.
I searched for it for years — and then, finally, I stopped searching and started remembering. This is that pie. Found again.
Italian Christmas Eve Crab Pie
Rich • Custardy • Deep Dish
Sour Cream Crust
(Tender, light, and just enough tang)
This fits one 9" pie plate - double if your pie plate is larger
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt (omit the salt if you're using salted butter)
1 stick of cold unsalted butter, cubed
1/4 cup full-fat sour cream, cold
In a bowl, whisk flour and salt. Cut in butter until pea-sized pieces remain.
Gently fold in sour cream just until dough comes together. ( Don't worry about overworking this dough ) It should be smooth & the consistency of playdough
Form into a disk so there are no cracks, wrap, and chill 60 minutes or up to 1 day ahead.
Roll out and fit into a deep-dish pie plate.
Blind bake at 375°F for 10 minutes with weights, remove weights and bake 5 more minutes. Cool slightly.
Crab Custard Filling
(Elegant, creamy, and un-spiced — let the crab shine)
1 pound high-quality lump crab meat, kept chunky
4 large eggs
1 cup full-fat mayonnaise
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup Swiss (I use Jarlsberg) or Gruyère cheese, finely shredded
1/2 cup mild white cheddar cheese
1 tablespoon flour
Freshly ground white or black pepper
Salt only if needed
Toss crab gently with cheeses and flour.
Whisk eggs, mayonnaise, cream, and pepper until smooth and silky.
Spread crab mixture evenly into the crust.
Slowly pour custard over, allowing it to settle into every bite.
Bake at 350°F for 50–65 minutes, until just set in the center.
Rest 15–20 minutes before slicing for clean, thick wedges.
To Serve
Warm.
In generous slices.
With people you love nearby.
Mangiare! 💜
Dedication
This recipe was once lost,
but never forgotten.
May it always bring people back
to the table — and to each other.
In many ways, this recipe lives in the same place as the pearls I work with — shaped slowly, held onto, and passed from hand to hand. Pearls and food share this quiet gift: they gather people, hold memory, and remind us that what lasts is often what’s made with care.
~ Marinella 💜