CRAWFISH PIES

Crawfish Pies

Crawfish pies are a New Orleans favorite that are very popular at festivals and outdoor events.

• PREP TIME: 30 minutes, plus time to make the dough TOTAL TIME: 1 1/2 hours YIELD: 12 first-course servings

INGREDIENTS

• Basic Pie Dough, divided into 12 balls, and chilled
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup minced onions
• 1/4 cup minced green bell peppers
• 1/4 cup minced red bell peppers
• 1/4 cup minced celery
• 1 1/2 tablespoons Emerilís Creole Seasoning
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 1 pound (2 cups) peeled crawfish tails
• 1teaspoon hot pepper sauce
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1/4 cup chopped green onions
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten in separate cups
• 2 tablespoons bread crumbs
• 2 tablespoons olive oil

DIRECTIONS

• Prepare the Basic Pie Dough and refrigerate.
• Melt the butter in a medium skillet over high heat. When the butter sizzles, add the onions, green and red peppers, celery, Creole Seasoning, and salt and saute, shaking the skillet or stirring occasionally, for 3 minutes. Add the garlic and crawfish tails and cook, stirring occasionally and shaking the skillet, for 2 minutes. Stir in the hot pepper sauce, Worcestershire, and green onions, and cook for 2 minutes. Whisk in the cream. Stir in 1 of the beaten eggs slowly just a little at a time (if you add it too quickly, youíll have scrambled eggs). Remove the skillet from the heat and stir in the bread crumbs. Makes 3 cups.
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment or wax paper.
• Remove the dough from the refrigerator. On a floured surface, roll out each ball into a thin circle of dough, about 1/8 inch thick. Trim edges of each circle to form a round of dough about 5 inches in diameter.
• Brush a 1/4-inch border around the edges of each dough square with the remaining egg. Place about 1/4 cup of the crawfish filling toward the corner of each square and fold the dough over to form a triangle. Crimp the edges with a floured fork and place the pies on the baking sheet. Brush the top of each pie with olive oil. Bake until lightly browned, for about 25 minutes.
• To serve, wrap the hot pies in paper towels or paper napkins. Serve with mugs of cold beer (Dixie or Abita are New Orleans favorites) and you've got your own crawfish festival.