Simple crawfish Monica
A rich and satisfying combination of tender crawfish tails, sautéed garlic and onions, and a luscious cream sauce spiked with Creole seasoning, all tossed with pasta.
Ingredients
Instructions
Cook the pasta: Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the pasta according to package directions until al dente. Drain the pasta well, reserving 1 cup of the cooking liquid, and set it aside.
Sauté the aromatics: While the pasta is cooking, melt the butter in a large skillet or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the minced garlic and chopped green onions and sauté for about 3 minutes, until they are soft and wonderfully fragrant.
Add the crawfish: Stir in the crawfish tails and continue to sauté for another 3 minutes. If you are using pre-cooked crawfish, you are just gently warming them through.
Create the cream sauce: Pour in the half-and-half and sprinkle in the Creole seasoning. Stir constantly, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Continue to cook for about 5-7 minutes, until the sauce begins to thicken to a creamy consistency. Be careful not to let it come to a rapid boil.
Combine and serve: Add the cooked pasta to the skillet with the sauce. Gently toss everything together until the pasta is fully coated in the creamy crawfish sauce. Let it warm over low heat for a minute or two until everything is heated through. Serve immediately, garnished with extra green onions if desired.
Notes
The traditional choice of pasta is rotini because its corkscrew shape is perfect for catching all the creamy sauce. Any short pasta with plenty of nooks and crannies will work well.
Creole seasoning blends vary in salt and spice levels. Start with the recommended amount, taste the sauce before adding the pasta, and add more if you'd like a bolder flavor.
You could use a mix of half-and-half and heavy cream or only cream.
Variations
For an even richer sauce, you can add 1/4 cup of grated Parmesan cheese along with the half-and-half. Stir until it is melted and smooth.
Adding 1 green bell pepper, finely diced, is quite common. Add it to the pan before the garlic and green onion.
If you can't find crawfish, this dish is equally delicious made with cooked shrimp. For a more luxurious twist, you can also use lump crab meat or even diced conch.
If you're using raw shrimp or other seafood, add it to the skillet after sautéing the garlic and onions and cook until just pink and opaque before adding the cream.
Source
It became especially famous as a New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival (“Jazz Fest”) favorite, and it was created by New Orleans chef Pierre Hilzim, who named it after his wife, Monica Davidson.
Food in USA