Who doesn’t like a good Cajun dish? This is inspired by all the crawfish étouffée that I’ve had the opportunity to eat on various trips to Louisiana. And I don’t mean just New Orleans. This is actually a combination of a couple of recipes that I had the pleasure of sampling at a couple of country-style kitchens in the gulf area. One was right on the gulf and served up shrimp dishes fresh off the boat. The other was a tiny country kitchen near Baton Rouge. Their recipes were similar, so I mixed them and came up with this. Keep in mind that you can use shrimp instead of the crawfish if you can’t get it locally or shipped in.
Ingredients:
- 1 lb. crawfish tails (shrimp tails work just as good)
- 1 package of Zatarain’s Red Beans and Rice
- 1 stick of unsalted butter
- 1 cup of chopped onion
- 2 tablespoons of chopped garlic
- 1 cup of chopped green bell peppers
- 1 cup of chopped celery (or 1 can of cream of celery soup)
- 1 can of cream of mushroom soup
- 1 can of chopped Ro*Tel tomatoes and green chilies
- 3 to 4 teaspoons of cayenne pepper or Slap Ya Mamma Cajun Seasoning if you can get it
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- 2 puff pastry pie crusts
- Optional — 1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
Filling:
In large pot on medium-high heat, melt the butter. When melted, add chopped onion, bell peppers, celery (if you’re using them) and garlic. Cook till onions are turning translucent (about 10 minutes). Add in crawfish and cook for another 10 minutes. You might have to add a little water to keep the crawfish moist. Add in soups and tomatoes along with spices and simmer on low-medium heat for another 30 minutes, stirring frequently. While that is simmering, cook red beans and rice per instructions. When everything is done, you should “mix the étouffée and the rice together and put it away till assembly.
Final Assembly and Cooking:
Prepare basic egg mix but use about 1/2 as much milk as normal. Make sure to beat mixture for about 4-5 minutes. Combine egg mixture and étouffée mixture in mixing bowl. Mix thoroughly. Pour into pie crusts and bake in oven for 35-40 minutes at 375. You can top with cheese if you want or add the cheese as a side topping.