Mardi Gras Crawfish Desire Recipe
Circumstances beyond our control prevented us from having our annual Mardi Gras Madness party. But a 5-pound bag of cooked, frozen crawfish gifted to us by Amy's mom and a desire for the taste of New Orleans made today feel like Fat Tuesday nonetheless.
Amy created this recipe long ago, based on a favorite dish served at Jazz Fest called Crawfish Monica. It can be made with shrimp, but crawfish is much more authentic, so if you can get it, go for it. Even if it's frozen.
Happy Mardi Gras, y'all!
Crawfish Desire
Ingredients:
1 lb. seafood: crawfish (cooked and peeled) and/or shrimp (raw, peeled and deveined)1 stick unsalted butter1 pint half-and-half½ cup chopped green onions6 cloves garlic, chopped2 teaspoons chopped fresh thymeCreole seasoning to taste (the more, the spicier, and I prefer Tony Chachere’s)1 lb. pasta (rotini if you’re being authentic)
Put water on to boil pasta and cook pasta al dente. Melt butter and sauté garlic and green onions until fragrant. Add shrimp and/or crawfish and cook for three minutes. Gradually add half-and-half, then the thyme and Creole seasoning, stirring well*. Cook five minutes so that the seafood is cooked through and the sauce becomes thickened. Add cooked pasta and let the dish sit over low heat for five more minutes, stirring often. Serve with crusty French bread, of course!
*It is important to stir often so that the sauce doesn’t break (separate).