Recipe: Baked Lobster Dip

My fishmonger used to get sustainable crab meat from Canada's East Coast. But with US tariffs on China driving up demand for Canadian seafood, his supplier is no longer canning because the crabs are being bought for lobster bait. Instead, I got a container of pre-cooked Bay of Fundy lobster meat and transformed it into this powerhouse dip.

Dan and Kristin Donovan of Hooked suggests looking in the supermarket freezer aisle for canned lobster meat packed in Tignish, P.E.I., where a co-op of a couple hundred lobster fishers share ownership of a processing plant.

There are so many variations on this dip, sometimes including mayonnaise, Cajun seasoning or sour cream. But at its indulgent core, you're dipping bread or chips into hot, seafood-flavoured cream cheese.

Baked Lobster Dip

A note: A lot of recipes call for raw onion or onion powder. At the risk of adding a step, I think caramelizing onions — adding a deep, sweet, base note to the spread — makes all the difference.

Ingredients

• 2 onions
• Small knob of butter
• ½ lb lobster meat, chopped (fresh or frozen meat, thawed)
• 1 cup cream cheese
• ½ cup cheddar cheese, grated
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 bird's eye chili, minced
• Zest and juice of ½ lemon
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• Chips or baguette, to serve

Preparation

Peel and dice the onion very small. Combine the onions and butter in a wide pan over low heat. Stirring occasionally, allow onions to eventually turn a light copper colour. (Recipe writers often make the false promise of caramelized onions in 10 minutes. This is impossible; it takes 30 to 40 minutes. But they only require a sporadic stir in that time — no more work than checking Instagram.)

When the onions are caramelized (they will also lose two-thirds of their volume) transfer them to a mixing bowl, and combine with the lobster, cream cheese, cheddar cheese, garlic powder, paprika, chili, lemon zest and juice. Stir to combine and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Make the mixture in advance, up to one day but no more than that, storing it in an air-tight container in the refrigerator. When you are ready to serve, preheat oven to 375F degrees. Transfer mixture to a baking dish and bake until the surface bubbles, about 15 minutes.

Serve with chips or sliced baguette.

Yield: Makes about 4 cups of dip or to serve 20-30 guests

Corey Mintz is a food columnist for the Globe and Mail and TVO. Find him on Twitter and Instagram @coreymintz.