Crawfish Pie

You know the old Hank Williams’ song:  ”Jambalaya, crawfish pie, fillet gumbo..”   Singing the virtues of life on the bayou and all the fabulous food created by the cajuns.  I’m so proud to be a part of this heritage, and never more so than when it comes to food.  Now that I’m awaking from my vacation haze, I’ve been thinking of recipes to share; and more and more of the dishes from my own family keep popping up and inspiring me to get back into the kitchen

I’ve been craving this one for the past few days.  Crawfish pies probably have as many variations in how to make it as the many moms and grandmama’s across Louisiana who cook them.  The recipe I’m sharing here is my favorite version with a little of my own personal twist.  Hope you try it and love it!

Crawfish Pie

1 lb cooked crawfish tails

1/2 stick butter

1 yellow onion, chopped

2 celery stalks, chopped

1 tsp garlic, minced

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 cup milk

3 T MexiCajun Seasoning

1/2 large lime

Colibrí Pepper Sauce

2 pie crusts (for one large pie) or 4 pie crusts (for 12 mini pies)

If using packaged crawfish tails that have been cooked and frozen, thaw out and rinse thoroughly.

In a medium bowl, squeeze the 1/2 lime onto the rinsed crawfish tails and add MexiCajun Seasoning.  Mix well until all crawfish is well coated.  Add just a few drops of Colibrí for an additional kick of spice.  Set aside to marinate.

Preheat oven to 375°.  In a skillet, melt butter and add onion and celery.  Sautée until onions turn clear and celery becomes tender.  Add garlic.  (Be careful not to let the garlic burn, as it browns very quickly.)  Add cream of mushroom soup and milk.  Lower heat to medium and continue to cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture begins to thicken.  (It may be necessary to add a teaspoon or so of corn starch to help with the thickening process.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Strain crawfish and add to skillet.   Mix until well incorporated and continue to simmer.  When everything is mixed well and the crawfish are heated thru, remove from heat.

Roll out pie crusts.  Here I decided to make mini-pies instead of one big pie.  I used the plastic lid from a crisco can to cut the pie crust into the appropriate size for my muffin pan.

Grease muffin pan (for mini-pies) or pie plate (for large pie).  Insert bottom pie crust.

Fill with crawfish mixture.  Cover with top pie crust and cut slots for ventilation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Place muffin pan onto a cookie sheet and bake for 30-35 minutes, or until crust browns.

Voilá!  Enjoy!