A few new recipes for crawfish

Now that winter has started to appear in our rearview window, spring is upon us.  With spring comes one of my favorite seasons, crawfish season. The mudbugs have already started to appear in restaurants and food trucks. Every year, I find different recipes for crawfish tails.

Today. I am sharing two recipes. They both call for packages of tails that you find frozen in your local market. You can always substitute fresh tails instead. The first recipe is a side dish, Crawfish Pasta Salad. The second is the main event, Crawfish Meatballs and Spaghetti. So, gather up your crawfish, and Let’s head to the kitchen!

Crawfish Pasta Salad

I think pasta salad is a lot like jambalaya and gumbo. You can use any protein you have. Feel free to use shrimp instead of crawfish.

1 large red onion

1 large red bell pepper

3 celery ribs

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 pound crawfish tails

1 teaspoon Creole seasoning

8 cups total various vegetables: sliced green onions, zucchini, broccoli florets, grape tomatoes, mushrooms, olives, etc.

1 cup Robusto Italian dressing

1 pound bow-tie pasta

Chop onion, bell pepper, and celery, into 1/2-inch pieces. Place in a large mixing bowl with minced garlic and toss well. Drain fat and liquid from crawfish, saving liquid for other uses if desired. Add crawfish tails to mixture; add Creole seasoning, sliced vegetables, and dressing; toss to coat. Cover and chill at least 30 minutes.

Boil pasta in salted water until just tender (do not over boil). Drain and rinse under cold running water until cooled and shake well to release excess water. Place pasta in bowl with marinating crawfish mixture and gently toss to coat. Taste; adjust seasonings, adding extra dressing, if needed. Cover and chill for up to 5 days.

Crawfish Meatballs and Spaghetti

Here’s a unique take on this Italian classic. People use ground turkey, chicken and pork for meatballs. Why not crawfish?

2 large yellow onions

1 bell pepper

5 cloves garlic

1/4 cup vegetable oil

2 tablespoons tomato paste

3/4 cup red wine

2 (28-ounce) cans plum tomatoes

2 pounds crawfish tails

2 green onions, chopped

2 egg whiles

4 teaspoons corn starch

1 teaspoon Creole seasoning

Preheat oven to 425℉.

Roughly chop onions, bell pepper, and garlic; pulse in a food processor until finely chopped but not puréed. Heat oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat; add minced vegetables and sauté 5 minutes or until sweated. Divide mixture in half, leaving half in the Dutch oven and spooning the other half into a large bowl to cool. Add tomato paste to vegetables in Dutch oven and sauté 3 minutes; deglaze pan with wine. Drain and shred tomatoes, reserving juice for another use; add to the pan and bring to a low boil. Simmer 2 minutes, while stirring. Drain fat and liquid from crawfish tails, saving drained tails for later use. Add fat and liquid to simmering sauce and stir well. Cover with lid, reduce heat to low, and simmer 30 minutes, stirring often.

Measure 3 cups crawfish tails and add to food processor; reserve remaining tails. Add green onions; pulse just until finely chopped. Add cooked sweated vegetables, egg whites, cornstarch, and Creole seasoning. Pulse 2 to 3 times until mixture is well blended. Roll into 1-inch balls and place balls on a greased cooking sheet, 1/2-inch apart. Bake for 8 minutes. Remove from oven and transfer crawfish balls into simmering sauce, along with reserved crawfish tails. Increase heat to medium and return to a low boil; simmer for 2 minutes. Remove from heat. Taste; adjust seasoning. Cover and let stand 10 minutes. Serve sauce warm over hot cooked spaghetti with hot buttered bread. Garnish with grated Parmesan cheese and finely chopped green onions.

I know there are many people who don’t like boiled crawfish. These recipes are a great way to try crawfish without having them looking back at you. If you like shrimp, I can also guarantee that you will like the flavor of crawfish.