White Crawfish Pie

This is a tasty and simple recipe that can be made by anyone with basic kitchen skills. You can bust my chops for using canned soup and pre-made pie shells. But I am writing this for people on a limited budget and lack of time. I will post a more ambitious version of the recipe later. If you can't find crawfish tails you can substitute peeled raw shrimp.

Recipe

Ingredients

• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 ½ teaspoons salt
• ½ teaspoon cayenne
• 1 teaspoon fresh thyme or ½ teaspoon dry
• ¼ teaspoon black pepper freshly ground
• 1 cup yellow onions chopped
• ½ cup bell peppers diced
• ½ cup celery chopped
• 6 to 8 cloves garlic crushed
• 1 can of cream of mushroom soup
• 1¼ cup half and half
• 1 pound of crawfish tails
• 5 tablespoons cornstarch
• enough pie dough for double crust 9" pie or 2 premade pie shells.

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. Heat a sauté pan on medium heat.
3. Pour the olive oil into the pan, then add the butter.
4. Wait till the butter melts and you hear a sizzle.
5. Sauté onions, bell peppers, celery.
6. Add the garlic to the vegetables last and sauté.
7. Add milk and soup; bring to medium boil, stirring frequently.
8. Add crawfish, bring to medium boil again.
9. Add the corn starch and thyme, stir as needed.
10. Lower heat and simmer until thick.
11. Let the filling mixture cool for 15 minutes.
12. Divide the dough and roll out both pie crusts
13. Use a 9" pie pan as a template to test for proper size.
14. Grease the pie pan liberally with butter.
15. Carefully place bottom pie crust in the pan.
16. Prick the bottom and sides of the crust with a fork.
17. Pour the thickened mixture into the bottom pie crust.
18. Put on the top crust and seal the edge.
19. Bake at 350° for 20 minutes.
20. Cool on a rack for 10 minutes.
21. Serve while still warm.