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Spicy Crawfish Fettuccine

Source of Recipe

From "Real Cajun" by Donald Link


Recipe Introduction

"As with most great Louisiana dishes, this one is pretty rich. The addition of tasso provides lightly smoky undertones. Tasso is a common flavoring ingredient in sauces and gumbos, and it works especially well with cream dishes because it doesn't overpower the cream with heavy smoke and fat, as sausage would. The sauce is all about the sweet flavor of crawfish; if you want a lighter dish, replace half of the cream with a few more chopped tomatoes and ¼ cup water."

List of Ingredients

â—¦ 3 tablespoons butter
â—¦ 1 small onion, finely chopped
â—¦ 1 small poblano chile, stemmed, seeded, and finely chopped
â—¦ 3 cloves garlic, minced
â—¦ 3 ounces tasso, finely chopped (â…“ cup)
â—¦ 1 teaspoon salt
â—¦ ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
â—¦ ¼ teaspoon paprika
â—¦ 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
â—¦ 3 dashes of hot sauce
â—¦ 4 medium plum tomatoes, finely chopped
â—¦ 1 pound crawfish tail meat
â—¦ 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
â—¦ 2 cups heavy cream
â—¦ 1 pound fettuccine
â—¦ Juice of ½ lemon
â—¦ 4 fresh basil leaves
â—¦ ¼ cup thinly sliced scallions
â—¦ Freshly grated Parmesan cheese, to taste



Recipe

Bring a large pot of generously salted water to a boil. Melt 1 tablespoon of the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion, poblano, jalapeño, garlic, tasso, salt, cayenne, paprika, red pepper flakes, and hot sauce and cook, stirring frequently, until the vegetables are softened but not browned, about 5 minutes.

Add the tomatoes and crawfish, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer for 10 minutes, until the juices have reduced by half.

Add the remaining 2 tablespoons butter and stir until melted; sprinkle with the flour and stir until combined. Add the cream and simmer over low heat for 10 more minutes while continuing to stir occasionally.

While the sauce simmers, cook the fettuccine according to package directions until al dente; drain well.

Stir the lemon juice, basil leaves, and green onions into the sauce. Spoon a generous amount of sauce onto portions of fettuccine and sprinkle lots of Parmesan on top.


Serves 6 to 8