Episode Five: Crawfish and Cream over Pasta

*If anyone is wondering, I have cataloged all the recipes I've cooked over the past few months, and am going through all of them tonight, fueled by an extremely decent cup of Stone Creek Coffee's Organic Ethiopian out of our new GE brewer... which is fantastic!*

For some reason, there was a long hiatus in which I did not cook anything for dinner.  C cooked a whole bunch, and whipped out his grilling expertise, but we dined out a lot and I lost a bit of faith in my cooking abilities.  Just as I was about to give up on my dreams (not really), Christian printed out a recipe, gave it to me, and told me to make it.  It was Emeril Lagasse's Crawfish and Cream over Pasta, which was one of the first recipes that C ever made.  Due to limited availability of crawfish in the area, we decided to go with shrimp instead.

Crawfish and Cream over Pasta
1 pound linguine or fettucine
2 tablespoons olive oil
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 cup chopped yellow onions
2 tablespoons Essence
1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
1/4 cup dry white wine
2 cups heavy cream
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 pound crawfish tails*
1/2 cup chopped green onions
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley leaves
1 cup grated Parmesan


*Peeled medium shrimp can be substituted, but the cooking time must be increased to allow thorough cooking (I bought pre-cooked shrimp because it was cheaper, so this is unnecessary)


Preparation:
1. Cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water until al dente, about 8 minutes.  Drain, reserving 1/4 cup of the cooking liquid.  Return to pot and toss with the olive oil and reserved cooking liquid.  Cover to keep warm.


2. In a large saute pan or skillet, melt the butter over medium-high heat.  Add the onions and cook, stirring, until soft, about 5 minutes.  Add the garlic, Essence, salt, and cayenne, and cook, stirring, for 1 minute.  Add the white wine and cook over high heat until nearly all evaporated.


3. Add the cream, lemon juice, and cook, stirring occasionally, until slightly reduced.  Add the crawfish tails/shrimp and cook, stirring, to warm through.  Add the onions and parsley and cook for 1 minute.


4. Add the cooked pasta and toss to coat with the sauce.  Cook until the pasta is warmed through, about 1 minute.  Remove from the heat and add 1/2 cup of the cheese.


5. Turn out into a serving bowl and top with the remaining 1/2 cup of cheese.  Serve.


The recipe for Emeril's Essence Creole Seasoning (Bayou Blast) can be found here.


I really enjoyed this recipe, and it turned out great (although I added the shrimp at the very last second, which was not enough time to warm it properly - I would add it as the recipe calls).  We sprinkled some essence on top after dishing it up, which served well as a little extra burst of flavor here and there.  I chose to go with linguine when I made it, but I think fettuccine would have carried the sauce a bit better.


The recipe isn't overly spicy, as some may fear with the addition of cayenne and "essence" - I can vouch for this as I am staunchly opposed to overly spicy foods.  It has the flavor of Creole without the spice sometimes associated with it.  Very good!


Does not keep for long in the refrigerator - eat the leftovers within two days, or get rid of it.  I recently cleaned out my fridge, and found I had forgotten to get rid of one tupperware container which held mostly shrimp... I can't even describe the smell.


Newb: 3  Food:  2  Ricotta: 1


♥ Ashley