Crawfish Pie

Ingredients

Crawfish Filling:

• 1 stick butter
• 1 Chopped Large Yellow Onion
• ½ Chopped Green Bell Pepper
• 1 Chopped Rib of Celery
• 1 Lb. Peeled Crawfish Tails
• 1 Tbl. All-Purpose Flour Dissolved in ½ C. Water
• Salt
• Red Cayenne Pepper
• Granulated Garlic
• ¼ C. Chopped Green Onions
• 2 Tbl Chopped Fresh Parsley Leaves

Pie Dough:

• 1 8 Oz. Package of Regular Cream Cheese at Room Temperature
• 2 Sticks of Butter at Room Temperature
• 3 C. All-Purpose Flour plus 1 C. for Dusting

Directions:

Crawfish Filling

1. To make the crawfish filling, melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat.
2. Add onions, green bell peppers, and celery, stirring to sauté until soft and translucent, about 10 – 12 minutes. 
3. Add crawfish tales. Stir and cook until they begin to release their liquid, being careful not to overcook, about 5 minutes.
4. Add flour/water mixture to crawfish, reduce heat to medium low and cook, stirring occasionally, until the mixture thickens, 3-5 minutes.
5. Season with salt, red cayenne pepper, and granulated garlic, to taste.  Add green onions and parsley.
6. Transfer mixture to a bowl, cool slightly, then refrigerate.
7. When mixture is completely cooled, chop mixture to a medium/fine consistency to use as filling.

Pie Crust

1. To make the pie dough, place butter and cream cheese in the bowl of a mixer and blend until well combined. 
2. Add 3 cups of flour and mix.
3. Remove from bowl and place on a clean surface or parchment paper.
4. Knead slightly, adding more flour if needed.
5. Shape dough into ball and divide into 2
6. Dust your rolling pen and surface for rolling out dough with flour. Roll out dough to desired thickness and cut into 3 inch rounds.
7. Fill each round with 1 tablespoon cold crawfish filling, folding over dough, and seal by pinching edges together with a fork.
8. Place finished pies on a parchment or waxed paper lined baking sheet and freeze.
9. To bake, preheat oven to 350.
10. Place frozen pies on a baking sheet, 2 inches apart. 
11. Bake for about 15 minutes, or until center is warmed through and crust is golden.

Recipe compliments of Debra Taghehchian.