I love crawfish season and this is a great recipe to use those delicious little mud bugs! I did use some leftover crawfish from a boil we attended so I skipped the first step. Don’t forget to save the shells if you have a crawfish boil, I put them in gallon bags and freeze them to make stock or make all sorts of stuff from like oil. Click HERE for ideas to use crawfish and lobster shells for.
Pappadeaux Crawfish Bisque
(Adapted from CopyKat Recipes)
3 pounds crawfish
2 ounces olive oil
1 teaspoon paprika
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 quarts water
1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 tablespoon Tomato Paste
3 cups Whipping Cream
1/2 cup Chopped Tomato
4 tablespoons brandy
Boil the crawfish in a large pot of water. Drain the crawfish and allow to cool so that they can be handled easily. I used leftover crawfish and shells from a crawfish boil we attended.
Remove the tail meat and save the head and shells. Place the tail meat in your refrigerator.
Heat the oil in a Dutch oven or a large saucepan. Add the crawfish heads and shells, paprika, and cayenne, and saute for 5 minutes.
Add water and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 30 minutes.
Strain the liquid into a separate pan. Crush the heads and shells to extract any remaining liquid and add that liquid to the pan. Discard the shells.
Return to the heat and add bell pepper, onion, tomato, tomato paste, and cream. Simmer for 1 hour, stirring frequently.
Add the brandy and the crawfish meat. Simmer for 10 minutes. Serve hot and enjoy!
