Crawfish and Sausage Étouffée

“A-two-fay” is a Louisiana Cajun dish that translates in French to “covered”, which is exactly what this delicious meal does to the White Rice that’ll accompany it. It’s slightly spicy, tangy, and filled with Crawfish, Sausage, and your typical Cajun Veggies. It can be a little tedious with the Roux but it’ll absolutely be worth it in the end. 

This recipe makes enough for 4 but can easily be doubled for more. Just make sure to have enough White Rice.

• ~1 Lb Whole Crawfish steamed before extracting tail meat cut with kitchen shears into halves or thirds

• 1 Cup Andouille Sausage thinly sliced

• 1 Tbs Butter

• 1/3 Cup GF Flour

• 3 Tbs Butter

• 1/2 Poblano Chile seeded and diced

• 2 Celery Stalks diced

• 1/3 Cup Bell Pepper diced (I use both Red and Green)

• 1/2 Yellow Onion diced

• 2 Garlic Cloves diced

• 1/2 Jalapeño seeded and diced

• 1 Tbs Fresh Thyme

• 1 Tbs Cajun Seasoning

• 1/4 Cup Diced Fire Roasted Tomatoes (~1/3 14.5oz Can)

• 1 Cup Seafood Stock

• 1 Bay Leaf

• 1/4 Cup Parsley chopped

• 2 Tsp Lemon Juice

• 1/2 Tbs Worcestershire

• Dashes Liquid Smoke

• Dashes Frank’s

• White Rice

• 1/4 Cup Green Onions thinly sliced

1. To begin you’ll want to steam the Crawfish over violently boiling water for about 5 minutes with a lid (the shells will turn bright red), take out the meat, and then cut them tails into thirds or so once they’ve cooled. While that water gets to boiling though, in a medium skillet toss in the 1 Tbs Butter over medium heat and let it melt before cooking the thinly sliced Andouille Sausage. Set them aside in a bowl that’s lined with paper towels once they’re done. You can also go ahead and place the Crawfish Tail meat in the same bowl and cover it all with some foil.

2. Now’s a good time to start the White Rice.

3. As with the Gumbo, this recipe requires a good ole fashioned Roux so melt the 3 Tbs of Butter over medium heat in a deep skillet or dutch oven before slowly tossing in the GF Flour and lowering it to medium low. You now get to stir it all together for the next 15 or 20 minutes. It’ll smell a little nutty and it’ll turn the color of caramel when it’s done.

4. When the Roux is finished toss the Poblano, Celery, Onion, and Bell Peppers into it and stir well until combined and continue stirring until they soften which is about 10 minutes.

5. Next up, add the Jalapeño, Garlic, Fresh Thyme, and the Cajun Seasoning and mix it all up nice and good making sure to coat everything with the Cajun Seasoning. Cook all that for about 2 minutes more.

6. Now throw and mix in the Fire Roasted Tomatoes, letting them cook for about 1 minute more before slowly adding the Seafood Stock. Add some Stock and stir everything well before adding a bit more and stirring and repeat until you’re at your desired level of Étouffée thickness. Also, add the Bay Leaf and bring it all to a simmer over medium high heat.

7. You’ll need to go ahead and unfoil the Sausage and Crawfish and drop them into the simmering skillet before tossing in the Parsley, W Sauce, Frank’s, Liquid Smoke, and the Lemon Juice. Mix all this goodness together for a few minutes until the meat’s warm again and then take it off the stove.

8. You’re all done! Serve the A-Two-Fay over the steaming White Rice and top it all with the Green Onions and more Frank’s. Laissez les bons temps rouler!